Why Invest in Hampton Roads Real Estate

Why would you select to invest your hard earned money in Hampton Roads, Virginia real estate over any other of the hundreds of markets in the USA? The short answer is Jobs and Jobs Security, but let’s dive into that deeper to get an understanding of what that means and why I am bullish on Virginia and in particular Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Hampton Roads, Virginia – Overview

The land area includes a collection of cities, counties, and towns on the Virginia Peninsula and in South Hampton Roads. Some of the outlying areas further from the harbor may or may not be included as part of “Hampton Roads”, depending upon the organization or usage. For example, as defined for federal economic purposes, the Hampton Roads metropolitan statistical area (MSA) includes two counties in northeastern North Carolina and two counties in Virginia’s Middle Peninsula. The Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC MSA has a population of over 1.7 million, making it the 37th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. The Combined Statistical Area includes four additional counties in North Carolina, pushing the regional population to over 1.8 million residents, the 32nd largest CSA in the country.

The area is home to hundreds of historical sites and attractions. Creating and maintaining adequate infrastructure has long been a major challenge. The Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel (HRBT), the Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel (MMMBT) and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel (CBBT) are major harbor crossings of the Hampton Roads Beltway interstate, which links the large population centers of Hampton Roads.

The military has a large presence in the region with 17 independent bases, resulting as a very major employer in the area. Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Intelligence all have bases in the area. Area military facilities include; Langley Air Force Base, NASA’s Langley Research Center, Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Camp Perry.

Hampton Roads is home to four Fortune 500 companies. Representing the food industry, transportation, retail and shipbuilding.

Almost 80% of the region’s economy is derived from federal sources. This includes the large military presence, but also NASA and facilities of the Departments of Energy, Transportation, Commerce and Veterans Affairs. The region also receives a substantial impact in government student loans and grants, university research grants, and federal aid to cities.

The Hampton Roads area has the largest concentration of military bases and facilities of any metropolitan area in the world. Nearly one-fourth of the nation’s active-duty military personnel are stationed in Hampton Roads, and 45% of the region’s $81B gross regional output is Defense-related.

Higher Education has a large presence in the area including; Public universities, Private universities, Universities with satellite campuses, University consortia including The National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), Technical education and Religious education.

Source: extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampton_Roads– October 2019

Crime Rates

Include; Murders, Rapes, Robberies, Assaults, Burglaries, Thefts, Auto Thefts and Arson.

The 2017 crime rate in Chesapeake, VA is 225 (City-Data.com crime index), which is 1.2 times smaller than the U.S. average. It was higher than in 70.3% U.S. cities. The 2017 Chesapeake crime rate fell by 5% compared to 2016. The number of homicides stood at 11 – a decrease of 3 compared to 2016. In the last 5 years Chesapeake has seen increasing violent crime and decreasing property crime.

See how dangerous Chesapeake, VA is compared to nearest cities:

Virginia Beach Tourism

The Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau announced Virginia Beach set a new tourism milestone for total visitors and visitor spending in 2017, welcoming 19 million domestic visitors who spent $2.45 billion. Visitor arrivals grew for the eighth consecutive year with a 7.34 percent increase from 17.7 million visitors in 2016. Since 2009, visits to Virginia Beach increased by 38 percent, which is 13 percent above the national growth rate, due to strategic marketing efforts and positive visitor experience, according to Longwoods International’s Travel USA study.

“Record-breaking arrivals and spending is a testament of the strength of our tourism sector and the values of our city,” said Brad Van Dommelen, director of the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We are fortunate that Virginia Beach is committed to our tourism product, which will keep us competitive and allow us to continue to grow arrivals and visitor spending, ultimately boosting the city’s economy to greater heights.”

Of the 19 million people who visited Virginia Beach last year, 8.9 million were day visitors (a nearly 10 percent increase from 2016), 10.1 million were overnight visitors to the area (up 5 percent from the previous year), and of the 10.1 million, 7.4 million stayed overnight in Virginia Beach. Overnight visitors spent $1.92 billion and day visitors spent $539 million, a 6 percent and 7 percent increase respectively.

Source: Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau – Monday, July 23, 2018 Great opportunity for AIRBNB Investment for any interested investors.

Average Home Prices – Hampton Roads, Virginia

Chesapeake

The median home value in Chesapeake is $267,500. Chesapeake home values have gone up 2.6% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 1.9% within the next year. The median list price per square foot in Chesapeake is $148, which is higher than the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metro average of $147. The median price of homes currently listed in Chesapeake is $325,000 while the median price of homes that sold is $255,800. The median rent price in Chesapeake is $1,595, which is higher than the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metro median of $1,400.