Are you thinking about a move to Newport News, Virginia? Well, good stick around because by the end of this video, you’ll be well armed with all the information you need to consider while weighing your options, and it starts right now. I’m Jonathan. This is my lovely wife, Rachel, and we are real estate brokers here in Hampton Roads. I actually grew up on the peninsula, which includes Newport News, so it’s near and dear to my heart. I’m kind of pumped to give you guys a little bit of the back story and what’s going on in Newport News.
Introduction
Newport News is one of the seven independent cities that comprise Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area of Virginia. As of the official census in 2010. The population was at 180,719 very exact number. It really is. Well, that’s what it was. And 2010 the population was estimated to be again right at 190,000, showing some small population growth and making Newport News the fifth most populous city in the state of Virginia. Newport News is located at the southeastern end, a Virginia peninsula and on the eastern shore of the James River, extending south east from Skiffe’s Creek, along miles and miles of waterfront to the river’s mouth.
Newport News point directly into the harbor of Hampton Roads. The area, known as Newport News, was once part of Warwick County. Interesting history fact toward here. Warrick County was one of the eight original shires of Virginia. Do we say shires? Here we do. We do OK. They did we do. All right. Well, it’s a Shire of Virginia formed in the House of Burgesses and the British Colony. Yeah, a lot of great history here.
Real Estate
Enough about that. Let’s talk about real estate as of today’s date. Let’s talk about current inventory. There is 1.1 months available housing inventory right here in Newport News compared to a two month supply at this same time last year. That’s a decrease of about 45% year over year. So months of supply is calculated by dividing current inventory by current sales, and it’s an indicator of how many months would be needed to sell all current inventory available at the current rate of demand if there were no new listings. So a six month supply is considered to be a balanced and healthy market. A one month supply is indicative of a very strong seller’s market. So the median sale price for homes in Newport News at this time last year was $212,000.
The median sale price as of this video is $240,000, so that’s an increase of 13%, or $27,000 compared to last year. So the average home owner pocketed $27,000 in equity just in the past year. So we’re seeing trend in home prices with neighbor news as they exist with the broader area of Hampton Roads. So prices and values continue to increase in the future. Seems pretty bright for Newport News. A good place to start. In terms of localities is probably city center. City Center is really cool. It’s around Oyster Point area. It’s been called the new downtown of the city because it’s got so many attractions. It’s home to corporate headquarters.
There’s a lot of legal firms, doctor’s offices, even some municipal offices located there. It’s within walking distance of business hubs, as well as shopping centers, restaurants, a lot of high end specialty shops, a ton of cute little cafes and bistros. So it has a lot to offer.
And there’s a lot of other popular neighborhoods in Newport News as well. There’s Hilton Village. Port Warwick Hill Village is really cool, Kiln Creek is really nice riverside. So there’s actually like 40 something neighborhoods in total in Newport News, and there’s a broad array of options, sizes and price points, so it’s impossible to dove into them specifically. So it’s also worth noting that certain locations have a bit of a reputation for higher crime and general malfeasance activity. You like that college word. So research the neighborhoods and contact us if you need more specific resources and data pertaining to particular neighborhoods in Newport News. Most of the neighborhoods in the city are safe and family friendly and great, but we want you to be very well informed of the area that you choose to live in, particularly if you’re bringing your family here to move.
Schools
So matter of fact, bringing your family here brings us to school. So what’s up with school? Yeah, so the Newport News School District offers 43 schools, educating over 30,000 students. A lot of people that is. The system has several alternative unconventional areas of academic focus, including Get this aviation and engineering school and international education and Enterprise Academy. Now, Enterprise Academy is a business school for expelled students and Troubled youths. That’s kind of cool right now, believe it or not. Newsweek’s yearly list of the best schools in the nation include five Newport News institutions within the top 6% for four years in a row for the higher education point of Newport News.
There’s a variety of options there as well. Both public and private. There’s William and Mary is right up the road. Christopher Newport University, Old Dominion University. A hop, skip and a jump in Norfolk. The historically African-American college. Hampton University that’s in a neighboring city not 10-15 minutes from most of Newport News. And then there’s Thomas Nelson Community College, which offers a ton of two year degrees, as well as some trade school programs. So a lot of options for secondary and higher education.
Fun Activities
The city has an array of scenic outdoors and activities and nature related attractions to enjoy. So there’s the Virginia Living Museum Wildlife Preserve. There’s the Newport News Park, which I used to play in as a kid there. The Nolan Trail. There’s historic monuments and museums that celebrate the city’s strong military presence, such as there’s the Army Transportation Museum, which is really fun, especially if you have a son. It’s a good time. Tanks and truck and all that stuff, that’s on Fort Eustis has a lot of exhibits showing the evolution of army vehicles.
There is the US Monitor Merrimac Center, perfect for all the Civil War buffs out there. I think they even still have like a replica. Using some of the parts from Jefferson Davis’s like jail cell, which is kind of cool at the end of the Civil War, so. And then there’s the Virginia War Museum that has a ton of uniforms, weapons and other artifacts chronicling the local history of the US military. So a lot to do on Huntington Beach. Huntington Beach. We go there all the time. It’s right by the James River Bridge. There’s a beach there.
There’s a free boat slip there for all you people that love to put your boat out on the river. You can play volleyball there. There’s lifeguards there during the summertime, during the day, and there’s a huge long pier that you can fish off and the sunset is amazing. There are exquisite.
Fav Eateries
So let’s wrap up with our top three eateries. I’m going to give you a hole in the wall of an Italian restaurant. It’s on Warwick Boulevard. It’s called Anna’s pizzeria. Absolutely best hot subs like homemade Italian hoagies in the area. Love it can’t bet it. I’m going to go kind of on the ritzy side to Tucanos Brazilian grill. We’ve been there a few times. It is a little on the expensive side, but it’s totally worth it. So you go and you just eat lots and lots and lots of really good meat and they have vegetables, but you eat mostly meat.
And if you want to eat lots of meat, but spend way less money. Check out Viking Burger. first of all, it’s called Viking Burger. So like what? They have Viking sauce, and they poured out of a flask made from Ram’s horn or something. But now it’s really great burgers. Big, juicy 100% prime beef. And they have a lot of really cool toppings like they have, like grilled pineapple and like chili, bacon, toppings and stuff. It’s really insane. Amazing. Amazing place to eat. So we’re Jonathan and Rachel Beasley we are That Fit Team professionals in real estate and passionate about people. We’ll see you next week.
