Your monthly guide to rental conditions in Hampton Roads. This is our August 2026 report, covering July 2026 rental data: what rents looked like last month, what's driving the market, and what it means if you own a rental home.
Hampton Roads Rental Market Snapshot — July 2026
Here's where Hampton Roads rents landed in July 2026, across all property types — apartments, condos, townhomes, and single-family homes.
Hampton Roads median rent reached $1,971 in July 2026, up 3.72% year-over-year, with homes leasing in 31 days as military PCS season drives peak summer demand. Mortgage rates at 6.49% are keeping would-be buyers in the rental pool, and the FY2026 defense budget is pumping over $8 billion into U.S. shipbuilding and $700 million in local base projects — conditions that keep Hampton Roads among the strongest rental markets in Virginia.
| Metric | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Median Rent (All Types, Hampton Roads) | $1,971 | +0.1% MoM |
| Avg. Days on Market | 31 days | — |
| Rent Growth YoY | +3.7% | — |
Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all rental property types, July 2026.
What's Driving Hampton Roads Rental Market Conditions Right Now
Hampton Roads Rental Supply and New Construction
The pipeline has dried up fast. Only 648 multifamily units are under construction across all of Hampton Roads right now, spread across just 5 active projects — a steep drop from the 3,449 units delivered in 2024 alone. New construction is concentrated almost entirely in the Chesapeake and Suffolk growth corridors and scattered pockets of Virginia Beach, meaning landlords in Norfolk, Hampton, and the Peninsula submarkets face essentially no new supply pressure at all.
Why People Rent in Hampton Roads
Military PCS season is the single biggest demand driver in this market, and it runs through August, so relocating service members and their families are still actively searching right now. The FY2026 defense budget locked in over $8 billion for shipbuilding, more than $700 million in local base projects, and a 3.8% pay raise for military personnel, which keeps the region's tenant base stable and well-funded. On top of that, a 30-year mortgage rate of 6.66% makes buying a home a tough financial case for most households, pushing renters who might otherwise buy to stay in the rental pool longer.
What This Means for Hampton Roads Landlords
PCS season ends in August, so you have a narrow window left to lease a vacant unit at peak-season pricing before demand softens into fall. If your property sits in Suffolk, Virginia Beach's Town Center corridor, or anywhere near Langley, Norfolk Naval Station, or Newport News Shipyard, price confidently: these areas are absorbing demand fastest right now, and a vacancy that lingers past mid-August will likely sit longer and require a price cut to move.
Hampton Roads Rent by City — July 2026
Virginia Beach leads Hampton Roads at 21 days on market, with Suffolk and Chesapeake close behind at 25 and 26 days, pointing to the strongest leasing momentum on the south and west sides of the metro. Norfolk sits at the soft end of the table at 43 days, with rents there ticking up 1.4% month-over-month, the fastest rent growth of any city in June despite the slower absorption. Most cities leased in under a month, making Hampton and Norfolk the clear outliers, and the spread from 21 to 43 days underscores how unevenly demand is distributed across the metro right now.
| City | Median Rent | 2BR Median | 3BR Median | Avg. DOM | MoM Change | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Beach, VA | $2,408 | $1,941 | $2,450 | 21 days | +0.3% | +6.7% |
| Chesapeake, VA | $2,335 | $1,705 | $2,371 | 26 days | +0.5% | +3.2% |
| Norfolk, VA | $1,673 | $1,513 | $2,113 | 43 days | +1.4% | +1.5% |
| Newport News, VA | $1,713 | $1,266 | $2,014 | 33 days | +0.0% | +5.0% |
| Hampton, VA | $1,861 | $1,652 | $2,143 | 41 days | +0.6% | +10.1% |
| Portsmouth, VA | $1,628 | $1,333 | $1,981 | 30 days | -0.7% | +2.2% |
| Suffolk, VA | $2,181 | $1,371 | $2,373 | 25 days | -1.4% | -2.5% |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all property types, July 2026. Median Rent is across all property types. |
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Virginia Beach, VA: Renters in Virginia Beach cluster around the Kempsville Gardens, Little Neck, and Red Mill Village corridors for military family access, while the Town Center area draws walkable-retail seekers with light-rail connectivity. At $2,408 median rent in July, Virginia Beach posted the highest rents in Hampton Roads and leased in just 21 days, with a 6.7% year-over-year gain signaling that demand here is running well ahead of the metro average.
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Chesapeake, VA: At $2,335 median rent and 26 days on market, Chesapeake leased faster than most Hampton Roads cities in July and held the second-highest rents in the region. A 3.2% year-over-year gain and a roughly flat 0.5% month-over-month uptick point to a stable, high-demand submarket with little sign of softening.
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Norfolk, VA: Norfolk's Ghent neighborhood draws relocating military families during PCS season, and the city's walkable urban core keeps demand steady even as rents sit at the lower end of the market. At $1,673 median rent and 43 days on market, Norfolk was the slowest-leasing city in Hampton Roads in July, so owners should price carefully to avoid extended vacancies, even with a 1.4% month-over-month bump showing some recent upward movement.
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Newport News, VA: At $1,713 median rent in July, Newport News held flat month-over-month but posted a solid 5.0% year-over-year gain, showing sustained upward rent pressure even without a seasonal spike. Homes leased in 33 days, comfortably faster than Norfolk and Hampton, putting Newport News in the middle tier for leasing speed across the region.
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Hampton, VA: The Phoebus corridor pulls renters with its walkable restaurant scene and Fort Monroe access, Fox Hill gives commuters a straight shot to Newport News Shipyard, NASA Langley, and Langley Air Force Base, and the Northampton area offers some of the most affordable single-family rents on the Peninsula. Hampton posted the strongest year-over-year rent growth of any Hampton Roads city in July, up 10.1% to a $1,861 median, though its 41-day DOM means homes here take longer to lease than the metro average.
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Portsmouth, VA: At $1,628 median rent and 30 days on market, Portsmouth leased at a reasonable pace in July, sitting near the metro median for DOM. The 0.7% month-over-month dip is small, but owners should watch it alongside the modest 2.2% year-over-year gain, the combination suggests pricing power here is more limited than in faster-moving submarkets.
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Suffolk, VA: Suffolk's median rent slipped 1.4% month-over-month in July to $2,181 and sits 2.5% below year-ago levels, making it the only Hampton Roads city with a negative year-over-year trend. Homes still leased in just 25 days, among the fastest in the region, so the rent softening likely reflects a pricing correction rather than a demand problem.
Hampton Roads Rent by Bedroom Count and Property Type — July 2026
Rent by Bedroom Count in Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads rents follow a mostly orderly progression from smaller to larger units, with one notable break: 1-bedroom rentals came in at $1,354 in July, actually $90 below the $1,444 studio median. From there, the market steps up steadily, with 2-bedroom rentals at $1,540, 3-bedroom rentals at $2,207, and 4-bedroom rentals at $2,672. The biggest single jump in the table falls between 2- and 3-bedroom units, where rent climbs $667, compared to the $465 gap between 3- and 4-bedroom rentals. From the cheapest tier to the largest, the spread across the full range runs $1,318.
| Bedroom Count in Hampton Roads | Median Rent (July 2026) |
|---|---|
| Studio | $1,444 |
| 1-Bedroom | $1,354 |
| 2-Bedroom | $1,540 |
| 3-Bedroom | $2,207 |
| 4-Bedroom | $2,672 |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, Hampton Roads, July 2026. |
Rent by Property Type in Hampton Roads
Single-family homes led every property type in July, with a median rent of $2,284, which is $313 (15.9%) above the blended metro median of $1,971, and they leased in just 21 days. Townhouses tracked close to the blended median at $2,009, only $38 above it, while condos came in 13.7% below at $1,700. Apartments sat furthest from the pack at $1,463, a $508 gap below the metro median, and their 91-day DOM was more than four times longer than single-family homes. That DOM spread, 21 days for single-family versus 91 for apartments, points to meaningfully different absorption rates across property types even within the same metro.
| Property Type in Hampton Roads | Median Rent | Avg. Days on Market | MoM Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Property Types (Blended) | $1,971 | 31 days | +0.1% |
| Single Family | $2,284 | 21 days | -0.1% |
| Condo | $1,700 | 25 days | +1.7% |
| Townhouse | $2,009 | 29 days | -1.0% |
| Apartment | $1,463 | 91 days | -0.2% |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, Hampton Roads, July 2026. |
Data Sources & Methodology
- Rental market data: Median rents, days on market, listing counts, and rent change figures. Sourced from county public records, deed and tax assessor data, and rental listings on publicly accessible platforms.
- Doorstead Platform Data: Internal leasing outcomes from Doorstead-managed rental homes across all property types, including days to lease. Trailing 12 months.
Data refreshed monthly. Doorstead benchmarks reflect managed properties only and may not be representative of the broader Hampton Roads rental market.