Framework for the Future 2030

Housing Trends and Climate

Background Data

Residents of the city continue to prefer single-family homes, which are 55% of the City's housing stock. Multiple family units (i.e., apartments) are 37% of the City's total housing, which is less than in 1992, when there were 39% of apartments citywide. Mobile homes account for 3% of the City's housing. Condominiums are 5% of the City's housing stock.

In 2000, the City's home ownership rate was 52% which was less than the rate for the Hampton Roads Region (63.1%), Virginia (73%) and the Nation (65%). In Hampton Roads, only Norfolk and Williamsburg had lower rates of home ownership.

The Framework Task Forces recommend that the City should increase the percentage of home ownership in Newport News to the national average of 65%.

Housing Growth

Between 2000 and 2007, the number of housing units in the city increased by 5.1%, with the greatest growth in duplex structures. The number of duplex housing units increased by 41.2% between 2000 and 2007.  (See Table 7-2)

The total number of housing units as of 2007 is estimated at 77,923.  This estimate was derived by using the 2000 U.S. Census data as a baseline and adding building permit data from the city to it.  Single family homes continue to be the predominate type of housing unit and the number continues to increase steadily.  The number of multi-family housing units continued to increase as well, between 2000 and 2007.

Housing unit changes in the four Planning Districts are shown on Table 7-3. Since 1992, when the Framework for the Future was first completed, three Planning Districts have experienced growth in housing. Planning District II has experienced growth in each decade.  Planning District III experienced rapid growth between 1980 and 1990, with the total amount of housing units increasing twofold, a 111.4 % increase.  Planning District IV followed a pattern of steady growth and experienced a 1.3% growth in total housing units between 1980 and 1990 and a 23.8% increase in housing units between 1990 and 2000.  Planning District I continued with a pattern of decreasing numbers of housing units, showing the largest decrease of 9% between 1990 and 2000. A great deal of redevelopment activity and removal of unsafe, vacant houses has been occurring in Planning District I, which accounts for some of the loss of units, and will be explored more in this chapter.

Housing Vacancy Rates

In 2000, the overall vacancy rate in Newport News for single-family and rental housing was 6%. Of the 4,431 vacant units in the City, 2,207 were available for rent, 717 were for sale, 226 were for seasonal or occasional use and 961 were vacant for other reasons. An apartment survey conducted by the Department of Planning indicated that the vacancy rate for rental apartments in 2006 was less than 3 percent.

Housing Value

Table 7-4 compares the city's median housing value with other Peninsula cities and counties. The value of housing (single family detached homes, townhouses and condominiums) in Newport News ranks fifth when compared to other cities and counties on the Peninsula. In 2000, the median housing value in Newport News was $96,400. 

Newport News and Hampton have lower per capita incomes and older housing with lower housing values than other Peninsula localities.  In 2000, Newport News' per capita income was the lowest on the Peninsula. Per capita income is derived by dividing the total income of all people 15 years old and over in a geographic area by the total population in that area.

Providing quality housing, offering variety in housing types and costs, increasing density in the urban areas of the city and preserving the rustic character that exists in some neighborhoods are important to maintaining and improving housing value in Newport News.

According to an annual study conducted by Old Dominion University’s Center for Real Estate and Economic Development (CREED), as of December 31, 2005, only three out of twelve areas in Hampton Roads have an average single-family home price of less than $300,000.00.  The median new construction price in the entire area for a single-family detached dwelling is $375,000.00.  The study lists the average final sales price of a new construction single-family home in Newport News at $334,306.00 and the average final sales price of a resale home at $191,989.00.   The average price for a single-family detached home in Hampton Roads has increased by 21.3% in the last 12 months from January 1, 2005 through December 31, 2005.

In addition, to single-family housing, the CREED study also examined the costs of other home ownership units, such as condominiums and townhomes.  The average closing cost for a townhome in the city in 2005 was $125,130.00, and the new construction closing cost for a townhome was an average of $353,409.00.  It should be noted that the new construction townhomes were mainly located in the Port Warwick development, which features upscale housing.

In the 1980's and 1990’s rapid growth replaced farmland with large residential developments.  The last large tract of remaining land with rustic character, Lee Hall, is slated to be developed over the next ten years.

The Framework Task Forces recommend that the City should take steps to improve housing quality and increase housing values. Better housing environments can be achieved by reducing overcrowding, providing housing rehabilitation programs and aggressive code enforcement in urban sections of the city, providing higher levels of community facilities and services in residential neighborhoods and encouraging the development of new upscale housing throughout the city.  Improved neighborhoods can also be achieved through better site planning and tree preservation by enforcing design standards in conservation and historic districts.