Hampton Roads homeowners paid a median of $127,000 for homes

Hampton Roads homeowners paid a median of $127,000 for their homes, according to a 2011 American Housing Survey profile released by the federal government on Thursday.

The median purchase price of homes constructed in the past four years in the region was higher, $262,900.

Nationally, homeowners paid $110,000 overall and $235,000 for new construction.  There was no statistically significant difference between the national and Hampton Roads median purchase price of homes constructed in the last four years.

The housing profile provides information on housing costs, mortgages and a variety of other physical and financial characteristics about housing in the Hampton Roads area.
American Housing Survey is sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. National data are collected every odd-numbered year, and metropolitan area data are collected on a rotating basis.

Some highlights for the Hampton Roads area include:

• The median year occupied homes were built in the area was 1979, compared with 1974 nationally.

• In the area, 49.9 percent of occupied homes used electric heating and 43.7 percent used piped gas. Nationally, piped gas was the main heating fuel, used by 50.4 percent of occupied homes. Electricity was used by 35.3 percent of occupied U.S. homes. 

• Among owner-occupied homes in the area, 42.3 percent had working carbon monoxide detectors, compared with 46.3 percent nationally.

• Among area homes, 93.6 percent of owner-occupied units in the area had central air, compared with 72.5 percent of units across the U.S.

• Median monthly expenditures for owners in the area totaled $150 for real estate taxes, $137 for electricity and $67 for property insurance. Respective national medians were $151, $121 and $58. There was no statistically significant difference between the national and Hampton Roads real estate taxes.

• Among the area’s owner-occupied homes, 73.5 percent had a regular and/or home equity mortgage and 32.1 percent had a refinanced primary mortgage. The respective national rates were 65.4 percent and 23.4 percent.

• Homeowners in the area had median monthly mortgage payments of $1,295 in 2011, compared with $1,015 nationally.