Analytics built by: Location, Inc.
Raw data sources: American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Methodology: NeighborhoodScout uses over 600 characteristics to build a neighborhood profile… Read more about Scout's Real Estate Data
With 94,398 people, 36,370 houses or apartments, and a median cost of homes of $197,782, Portsmouth real estate and house prices are near the national average for all cities and towns.
Single-family detached homes are the single most common housing type in Portsmouth, accounting for 60.78% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Portsmouth include large apartment complexes or high rise apartments ( 19.17%), duplexes, homes converted to apartments or other small apartment buildings ( 9.75%), and a few row houses and other attached homes ( 9.42%).
The most prevalent building size and type in Portsmouth are three and four bedroom dwellings, chiefly found in single-family detached homes. The city has a mixture of owners and renters, with 52.83% owning and 47.17% renting.
At the end of World War II, American soldiers returned home triumphant and, with the help of the GI Bill, built homes by the millions on the edges of America's cities. These homes were predominantly capes and ranches, modest in size, but built to house a growing middle-class as the 20th century became the American century. Portsmouth's housing was primarily built during this period, from the '40s through the '60s. A full 43.42% of the city's housing hails from this era. Other housing ages represented in Portsmouth include homes built between 1970-1999 ( 34.66%) and housing constructed before 1939 ( 12.19%). There's also some housing in Portsmouth built between 2000 and later ( 9.73%).
Vacant housing appears to be an issue in Portsmouth. Fully 11.09% of the housing stock is classified as vacant. Left unchecked, vacant Portsmouth homes and apartments can be a drag on the real estate market, holding Portsmouth real estate prices below levels they could achieve if vacant housing was absorbed into the market and became occupied. Housing vacancy rates are a useful measure to consider, along with other things, if you are a home buyer or a real estate investor.
Portsmouth's appreciation rate notably has been below the national average for the last ten years. The average annual home appreciation rate in Portsmouth during the period has been just 2.50%, which is lower than 70% of US communities.
Appreciation rates are so strong in Portsmouth that despite a nationwide downturn in the housing market, Portsmouth real estate has continued to appreciate in value faster than most communities. Looking at just the latest twelve months, Portsmouth appreciation rates continue to be some of the highest in America, at 10.97%, which is higher than appreciation rates in 76.01% of the cities and towns in the nation. Based on the last twelve months, short-term real estate investors have found good fortune in Portsmouth. Portsmouth appreciation rates in the latest quarter were at 3.37%, which equates to an annual appreciation rate of 14.17%.
Relative to Virginia, our data show that Portsmouth's latest annual appreciation rate is higher than 90% of the other cities and towns in Virginia.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Portsmouth differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Portsmouth - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 2000, to assist you in making the best Portsmouth real estate investment or home purchase decisions.
Average for Nation
Low for VA