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October’s residential real estate market in Hampton Roads posted another solid month as it shows signs of stabilizing and returning to normal levels. Unfortunately, the number of distressed homes have on the market continues to slow the recovery of the overall market. The good news is that the number of under contract homes increased.

The number of active listings decreased by 16.6% in October 2011compared to October 2010.The inventory of homes for sale dropped by more than 21% in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.In Chesapeake, the inventory declined by 7.2%.

Under contract increased by 29.6% when compared to October 2010. The number of under contract sales is typically an indicator of future settled sales activity over the next month or two as the contracts go to closing. With year-over-year gains this high in magnitude, the real estate market appears poised for solid sales figures as fall ends and winter begins.

Settled sales/closed sales grew by 17% in October 2011 when compared to October 2010. Norfolk saw sales increase by 25% or more for the month when compared to the same time last year. Virginia Beach saw an increase in sales of 7.4% for the month.