The Virginian-Pilot
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NORFOLK
It's getting more expensive to live in Hampton Roads.
In every category, the region's cost-of-living rate exceeds the national average.
And over the past decade, Hampton Roads has jumped into the ranks of the 10 costliest regions of its size, according to a recent report from the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission.
In 2000, Hampton Roads was ranked 20th-most-expensive, in terms of cost of living, among 36 regions with 1 million to 3 million residents, the report said.
Last year, it was No. 6.
In the past decade, Hampton Roads' cost of living rose nearly 13 percent, the study said, a growth rate eclipsed only by Baltimore among areas of its size.
The figures are from the Council for Community and Economic Research, the primary source of cost-of-living data.
The main culprit for the cost surge: housing prices. Last year, they were more than 20 percent above the national average.
"Ten years ago, our housing stock was undervalued and our housing costs were below average," said Greg Grootendorst, chief economist for the commission, who wrote the report with economist James Clary.
In the middle of the decade, housing prices soared faster locally than they did nationwide. And then they didn't drop as much as elsewhere at the end of the decade.
That's partly because defense spending "propped up the market here," said James Koch, an economist and former president at Old Dominion University.
The category with the next-largest gap between regional and national costs is health care. Koch attributed that in part to local mergers between health care providers. "Reduced competition typically results in higher prices," he said in an e-mail last week.
There is a silver lining.
Local income also soared in the past decade, according to Clary and Grootendorst.
The average income in the region rose 57 percent between 2000 and 2009, they wrote in their study, compared with 40 percent for all U.S. metropolitan areas. The local jump was boosted by a 77 percent increase in average income for the region's military personnel during that time, the report said.
It concluded: "The relative growth in the region's personal incomes outpaced the increase in the cost of living, indicating that despite the pain of higher prices, the region has performed strongly over the past decade."
Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com
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The housing price surge-----
When prices in housing started going up it was due to one thing--the localities just changed to a higher real estate taxing rates to bring in more income. Everything else followed suite! It wasn't a market driven increase it was a greed driven increase. The explanation was simply the properties had been "under valued" in the past.
WHO'S INCOME ARE THEY SPEAKING OF
I would like to know who's income are they referring to because mine has been the same for about 4years now. Sure I recieved two raises out of those 4 years if you would like to call $.15 a raise. Yeah anything is better than nothing but when the cost of your benefit package goes up the beginning of the year, the raise is taken away, it's like you never got one to begin with.
Cost of living
The cost of living here hasn't really gone up, but compared to other metropolitan areas we have held on fairly well. They have gone down, we have not, therefore it appears that things have improved here. The deal here is that the housing bust is just starting to take hold in Hampton Roads. We are still part of a low wage area, but our unemployment numbers are good due to the military not laying off soldiers.
I know I am having a hard time making my house payment. I don't want to be one of those many people that are being foreclosed on.
Troubled times ahead
So if your not in the military, that gets a raise about every year in one way or another, you're screwed. My wife took almost a 15 K pay cut so I am not sure what wages they are talking ab out going up around here, but they certainly are not. WE should do what Miami has done and cater to the coke dealers so some people actually have some money around here. Education is going down, cutting money for low income, crime is going up and this city and the area are going down the drain. Its the haves and the have not's around here anymore, and although a lot would love to blame Obama, this is not his fault. Egypt had a great idea about a week ago, Bahrain took the hint, when is it our turn??
COLA
Many people who own and run companies are using these economic hard times as an excuse to not give raises, make people work harder, and to lay people off. I have neighbors with new BMW's, new trailers, new boats, and they send their kids to private schools. They are not hurting.
hmmm
sounds like you may need to ask them what they do for a living and then go back to school
besides how do you know that they aren't just in a whole lot more debt than you are
having possessions in your drive way doesn't mean that the bank doesn't still own them
Tuff times
Increase 10 year pay is what?? Do you think we are all brain dead?
not sure about this study
I find it hard to believe that military salaries have gone up almost 80% in the last 10 years. The study could be a way of justifying the way to high housing assesments in the region. It is true the cost of living is high for this region.
Who said the houses were
Who said the houses were undervalued in times past? Isn't the value what people would pay for them? Where does this failed logic come from? It was respective of the lackluster job market. The reason home prices soared was availability of debt.
Why is it that high home prices is a good thing, but high gas and food prices is bad?
I always hear "leaders" talk about how badly it is that home prices are falling. Why is that? The jobs don't justify the housing prices, and lower prices mean more free money to spend elsewhere in the economy.
Sadly
High home prices are considered so "important" because it's such a huge chunk of revenue for local governments al over the country. If the prices stay low constantly, then local governments want home values to rise because they'll get more revenue from property taxes, and if a certain area already has experienced big home value increases (like Hampton Roads), it's very painful for local governments to have to cut back on spending for services that residents demand when values start to fall even a little bit. I'm not excusing high home values or local governments' specific spending habits, but that's just the unfortunate reality of things.