Your monthly guide to rental conditions in Hampton Roads. This is our June 2026 report, covering May 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 — May 2026
Here's where Hampton Roads rents stand as of May 2026, across all property types — apartments, condos, townhomes, and single-family homes.
Hampton Roads median rent sits at $1,897 in May 2026, up 2.06% from a year ago, even as a month-over-month dip of 0.72% reflects normal spring softening before PCS-season demand kicks in. With homes averaging 32 days on market and military relocation activity building through August, landlords who price close to market now are better positioned to capture that wave than those who wait.
| Metric | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Median Rent (All Types, Hampton Roads) | $1,897 | -0.7% MoM |
| Avg. Days on Market | 32 days | — |
| Rent Growth YoY | +2.1% | — |
Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all rental property types, May 2026.
What's Driving Hampton Roads Rental Market Conditions Right Now
Hampton Roads Rental Supply and New Construction
Multifamily deliveries across Hampton Roads hit roughly 2,250 units in 2025, but permitting has already pulled back, which means the supply pressure renters and landlords felt last year is fading. Most of the new inventory is concentrated in Chesapeake, Suffolk, and parts of Virginia Beach, where builders like Stanley Martin and Ryan Homes are active along corridors like Greenbrier, Great Bridge, and Battlefield Boulevard, with Chesapeake alone reporting over 50 active new construction communities. Apartments, townhomes, and single-family rentals in established areas away from those growth corridors face less direct competition from new product heading into 2026.
Why People Rent in Hampton Roads
The military PCS cycle is the single biggest seasonal force in this market: between April and August, thousands of service members rotate in and out of bases like Naval Station Norfolk, flooding the rental market with motivated, time-pressured tenants who need to move fast. At the same time, federal civilian employment dropped by more than 6,300 workers over the past year, a 10.5% decline that adds some uncertainty, though the $900 billion defense budget for fiscal year 2026 includes expanded shipbuilding investment and service member pay increases that should keep the broader defense economy anchored here. With a 30-year mortgage rate sitting at 6.53%, homeownership stays out of reach for a wide range of renters, including military families near Ocean View and Naval Station Norfolk, professionals in Ghent, and middle-income households in central submarkets like Kempsville, which recorded 288 home sales in just the last 90 days, a sign of how active that pocket remains even as renting stays the more accessible option.
What This Means for Hampton Roads Landlords
Price your rental to move now. The PCS window is open, demand is concentrated, and tenants relocating on military orders cannot wait around, so a vacancy that drags past July costs you the best leasing season of the year. With the median rent at $1,897 and year-over-year growth at 2.1%, you have room to hold firm on price through the summer surge rather than cutting to fill a unit quickly.
Hampton Roads Rent by City — May 2026
| City | Median Rent | 2BR Median | 3BR Median | Avg. DOM | MoM Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Beach, VA | $2,100 | $1,832 | $2,433 | 27 days | +0.0% |
| Chesapeake, VA | $2,465 | $1,822 | $2,533 | 29 days | +0.2% |
| Norfolk, VA | $1,437 | $1,340 | $2,082 | 37 days | -0.0% |
| Newport News, VA | $1,767 | $1,527 | $1,982 | 36 days | +0.7% |
| Hampton, VA | $1,642 | $1,636 | $2,032 | 41 days | +0.0% |
| Portsmouth, VA | $1,667 | $1,433 | $1,983 | 39 days | -5.9% |
| Suffolk, VA | $2,200 | $1,250 | $2,000 | 18 days | +0.0% |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all property types, May 2026. Median Rent is across all property types. |
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Virginia Beach, VA: Kempsville's central location and multi-base commute access make it one of the city's most active submarkets, and the Oceanfront and Town Center corridors draw renters who want walkability and entertainment within reach. At $2,100 median rent with a 27-day DOM and essentially flat pricing (0.0% MoM, +0.5% YoY), Virginia Beach is holding steady, moving homes at a pace well ahead of slower cities in the region.
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Chesapeake, VA: Great Bridge draws families looking for strong schools, parks, and bay access, and those tenants tend to stay, which keeps turnover low and landlord income stable. That sticky demand shows up in the numbers: Chesapeake's median rent hit $2,465 in May, up 10.2% year over year, the strongest annual gain in Hampton Roads, with homes leasing in 29 days.
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Norfolk, VA: Ghent pulls in young professionals and hospital staff from EVMS and ODU, while Ocean View has become a go-to for military renters who want beach proximity and quick access to Naval Station Norfolk. Even with that tenant base, the data is soft: median rent sits at $1,437, down 3.2% year over year, and homes are taking 37 days to lease, so pricing at or slightly below market is the right move right now.
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Newport News, VA: At $1,767 median rent, Newport News is up 17.0% year over year, the second-largest annual gain in the region, and May's 0.7% month-over-month increase suggests the momentum hasn't stalled. Homes are taking 36 days to lease, which is on the slower side, so landlords pricing aggressively can still capture this rent growth without sitting vacant.
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Hampton, VA: Median rent in Hampton is $1,642, down 4.7% year over year, and at 41 days the city has one of the slowest leasing paces in the region. With pricing flat month over month and annual rent declining, owners here need to lead with competitive pricing rather than holding out for top dollar.
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Portsmouth, VA: Portsmouth's May numbers warrant attention: median rent dropped 5.9% month over month to $1,667, the sharpest single-month decline across all Hampton Roads cities, and homes are sitting for 39 days on average. Whether that drop reflects a seasonal dip or softening fundamentals, it means overpricing right now carries real vacancy risk.
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Suffolk, VA: Planned communities like Planters Station and Bennett's Creek Quarter are drawing first-time renters and buyers who want newer construction at accessible price points, and that demand is translating into speed. Suffolk's 18-day DOM is the fastest in Hampton Roads by a wide margin, and even with rent flat month over month at $2,200, landlords here hold more pricing leverage than anywhere else in the region.
Hampton Roads Rent by Bedroom Count and Property Type — May 2026
Rent by Bedroom Count in Hampton Roads
The median rent for a 3-bedroom home in Hampton Roads is $2,149, with rents across bedroom sizes ranging from $1,247 for a 1-bedroom up to $2,621 for a 4-bedroom (a $1,374 spread). The sharpest single step-up in the table is the $601 jump from a 2-bedroom ($1,548) to a 3-bedroom ($2,149), which suggests demand pressure concentrates on family-sized layouts. Adding a fourth bedroom adds another $472 on top of that, so owners of larger homes can still command a meaningful premium, though the marginal return narrows.
| Bedroom Count in Hampton Roads | Median Rent (May 2026) |
|---|---|
| Studio | $1,368 |
| 1-Bedroom | $1,247 |
| 2-Bedroom | $1,548 |
| 3-Bedroom | $2,149 |
| 4-Bedroom | $2,621 |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings across all property types, Hampton Roads, May 2026. |
Rent by Property Type in Hampton Roads
Single-family homes in Hampton Roads median at $2,246 per month, $349 (18.4%) above the blended metro median of $1,897. Condos and townhouses sit closer to that midpoint, while apartments lag furthest behind at $1,369. The speed gap is just as telling: single-family homes lease in 23 days versus 32 days for the metro as a whole, and apartments stretch to 104 days. If you own a single-family rental, you have pricing power the other property types simply don't; if you own an apartment, expect to work harder on price and marketing to move it.
| Property Type in Hampton Roads | Median Rent | Avg. Days on Market | MoM Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Property Types (Blended) | $1,897 | 32 days | -0.7% |
| Single Family | $2,246 | 23 days | +0.8% |
| Condo | $1,605 | 27 days | -0.2% |
| Townhouse | $1,874 | 30 days | -0.7% |
| Apartment | $1,369 | 104 days | -0.8% |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, Hampton Roads, May 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.