THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 17, 1996 TAG: 9608170235
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 50 lines
With consumer confidence improving and fewer worries about military bases closing, housing activity in South Hampton Roads will remain robust through the rest of 1996, an economist with the Department of Housing and Urban Development predicted Friday.
``I think the economy (in Hampton Roads) will be better in the second half, assuming that interest rates remain stable,'' said Frances A. Kenney, an economist in HUD's regional office in Richmond.
Although the region's jobless rate remains higher than the statewide rate, a strong tourist season and additional jobs in computer assembly and telecommunications in Hampton Roads will enhance economic growth during the second half, Kenney said.
In South Hampton Roads, the number of construction permits issued for single-family homes jumped 39 percent in the first five months from the January-through-May total in 1995, the HUD economist said in a report on the region's housing activity. Kenney's analysis was part of a quarterly HUD report on housing conditions nationwide.
Much of the residential construction in Hampton Roads continues to occur in Suffolk, Chesapeake and Isle of Wight County because of the improved access via I-664, the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel and the Western Freeway, Kenney said in the report.
``Presently, there are more than 30 active subdivisions in the Suffolk area,'' she said. And in Isle of Wight County, some 200 homes with price tags of $200,000 or more are planned for the Gatling Pointe South development.
Meanwhile, sales of existing homes in South Hampton Roads rose 18 percent during the first five months of 1996 from the comparable period last year.
But on the Peninsula, sales of existing homes fell 2 percent during the January-through-May period from the same period last year.
Williamsburg had a 20 percent increase in home sales in 1995 and is likely to register a slight increase this year, Kenney said in the report.
As in past years, construction of townhouses and condominiums has accounted for about 25 percent of the region's new-home sales, Kenney said. Most of this construction is taking place in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, James City County and York County, she said. ILLUSTRATION: Grapghic
Home Building Permits
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KEYWORDS: HOUSING STARTS BUILDING PERMITS by CNB