Probably not — but it feels that way, and that feeling is what's keeping half of Norfolk off the market right now. Home values haven't collapsed. They've leveled off after two wild years. If your neighbor sold at the peak in 2023 or 2024, you're not "losing" by selling in today's market — you're selling in a normal one. Here's how to actually tell the difference.

Why does it feel like everyone sold higher than me?

Because the two or three loudest sales on your street probably happened during the frenzy — multiple offers, no inspection contingencies, prices nobody expected to last. That was never the baseline. It was the exception. A recent HomeLight survey of agents found this exact fear — "am I leaving money on the table compared to my neighbor" — is now one of the top anxieties sellers bring to their first conversation with an agent. You're not imagining it. You're just comparing yourself to a moment, not a market.

Is home appreciation actually slowing down in Norfolk?

Yes, and that's a good thing for sellers who plan it right. Norfolk's median sale price is sitting around $325,000–$330,000 right now, which is still up from where it was a few years back — just not climbing at the pace it was during the frenzy. Slower doesn't mean falling. It means the market caught its breath.

What should I actually compare my home to?

Not your neighbor's closing statement from 2024. Compare your home to what's sold in the last 30–60 days, on your specific block, in your specific condition. Here's the nugget nobody tells you: two homes a half-mile apart can have wildly different values depending on the school zone, the flood map, and whether the kitchen's been touched since 1998. Your neighbor's number was their number. It was never yours.

Does waiting get me back to those "peak" numbers?

Nobody can promise that, and I won't pretend I can. What I can tell you is that pricing to chase a number from two years ago is the single fastest way to sit on the market for months while buyers watch your price cuts happen in real time. Overpricing based on old comps is still the number one reason homes are sitting right now — not the market, the price.

So what actually determines what I walk away with?

Three things: your home's true condition compared to what's actively selling, how it's priced on day one, and how it's marketed to the buyers who are actually looking today — not the buyers who were bidding wars in 2023. Get those three right and the "neighbor number" stops mattering, because you're solving your situation, not chasing someone else's.

Should I just wait for the market to get better?

Maybe. Maybe not. "Better" is doing a lot of work in that sentence, and honestly, nobody knows exactly where the market goes next — I won't pretend otherwise. What I do know is that timelines shift the moment the real numbers make sense for your life. That's a conversation, not a guess. If you want to actually know what your home is worth today, compared to what's really selling near you — not a screenshot from two years ago — let's sit down and go through it together.

If you walk away with one or two little nuggets, my job is done.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it true home prices are dropping in Norfolk? No. Norfolk's median sale price is holding around $325,000–$330,000. Appreciation has slowed from the frenzy years, but prices haven't dropped.

Why did my neighbor sell for so much more than similar homes are listed for now? Many 2023–2024 sales happened during a short window of intense buyer competition. Those numbers were the exception, not the baseline — comparing to them isn't a fair read on today's market.

What's the biggest mistake sellers make when pricing based on old sales? Overpricing based on outdated comps. It's the most common reason homes sit on the market right now instead of selling quickly at fair value.