Economics Commons^™

Part 5: Affordable Housing In Hampton Roads: Facts And Issues, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

The rapid increase in regional housing prices in recent years (97 percent between 1997 and 2006) has made it much more difficult for some people to own their own home. Between these years, the annual interest and principal payments required for a typical home purchase rose from only 21.5 percent of the median income of our region’s households to 32 percent. Economically viable solutions to affordable housing challenges nearly always include increased housing density in order to make more moderately priced housing profitable to builders.