PORTSMOUTH, Va. — If you live in Portsmouth, it's likely you're seeing your real estate values go up. City leaders discussed the rise at a work session this week while they weighed tax rates for the upcoming fiscal budget.
Interim city assessor Steven Edwards told city council members Tuesday the metrics indicate the city's real estate market is healthy.
News 3 caught up with people who live in Portsmouth.
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Neighbor Janet Day said when homes in her neighborhood go up for sale, they're snapped up quickly. She added that the homes are well-built and folks want to remain in the area.
"We don't have a lot of new," explained Day. "Actually, a lot of them are second- or third-generation."
That trend of quick sales isn't just in her neighborhood. Edwards told the city Portsmouth homes were on the market last year for a median of just 17 days, with a national annual 30-year mortgage rate of 6.8%. He said the median home price was $265,000. That's the lowest median home price in Hampton Roads cities but it's on par with Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton which have older housing stock.
"The market is not necessarily as hot as it was back in 2020 and 2021 but the interest rates are not stopping someone with home ownership," explained Christian Harris, principal broker of BP Real Estate in Portsmouth.
Harris said the area's been drawing in first-time home buyers with the right home prices.
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News 3 asked folks in Portsmouth what's getting them to stay.
"We lived in the apartments for one year and then we bought a house," said Marie Lamb, long-time resident of Portsmouth. "We just liked Portsmouth because it was kind of in the middle of everything, centrally located. There's lots of history here, which my husband loved."
And for sellers, the value's increasing too. Portsmouth's residential real estate values increased by 6.6% last year, according to Edwards.
"I think this shows a true depiction of what is happening economically that counters a lot of how the media is portraying this majority African American city," said Dr. Mark Whitaker, Portsmouth city council member. "And I believe the data supports that all of that's being said. The land is still being sold and transferred which shows there's value."
Most folks don't want this to mean higher taxes, but they do want people to stay in and bring business to the area.
"Because that's one of my concerns that people move away from Portsmouth," said Michael Williams, long-time Portsmouth resident. "Even friends of mine move away. It would be nice for people to want to come here and remain here more so than going away. So we have to be able to do things like keep taxes down and make it affordable for most people in order to be attractive to most people."
You can find the city's full discussion here.
Real estate assessment notices will be sent out on or around March 8. Informal appeal hearings are expected to begin March 18.
