Virginia’s Aging Housing Stock: Are We Building Enough Homes?

Demand for homes in the U.S. continues to exceed the housing supply in the market. As housing construction continues to lag, the median age of owner-occupied homes continues to rise over time. The median age of the housing stock is an indicator that demand for remodeling will rise, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The latest report from the American Community Survey showed that the median age of an owner-occupied home in the U.S. is 40 years. About 35% of homes in the U.S. were built before 1970. From 2010 to 2021, about 8.3 million housing units were added to the nation’s stock.

The median age home in Virginia is 38 years, two years lower than the national median. According to NAHAB, half of owner-occupied homes in D.C. were built over 79 years ago. About 55% of Virginia’s housing stock was built between 1960 to 1999. There were 723,340 owner-occupied homes built between 1980 to 1999, accounting for 32% of Virginia’s housing stock. The number of homes built has declined since 1999. According to the 2021 American Community Survey, there were 602,731 owner-occupied homes constructed from 2000 to 2021 in Virginia.

Even though the housing stock in Virginia mostly consists of single-family detached homes, there’s been a steady rise in new multifamily construction in some areas throughout the state. Breaking down the types of multifamily structures, there’s been less than 14,000 small-multifamily building units and over 180,000 large-multifamily units across the state since 2001, according to Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).

The nation’s aging housing stock is pushing many homeowners and investors to make renovations to their homes to keep up with trending amenities. As job opportunities continue to grow and attract more people to the state, it is essential that the renovations to the older housing stock continue in tandem with the versatility of new housing construction. Most of Virginia’s housing stock was built before 1999, meaning the tenure of these homes is older than 24 years. This indicates that the remodeling market, if not already, will begin to rise in many areas.

This article was written by Abel Opoku-Adjei
Research Associate for the Virginia Association of REALTORS®