TerraVue / Markets / Virginia Beach, VA
Over the past 20 years, Virginia Beach home prices have risen 2.77% a year; over the past three, 6.13%. TerraVue's forward estimate, which weights both, is 4.12%. That is essentially in line with the national average.
Appreciation is only one side of the buy-vs-rent question, but it's the side people guess at most badly. At the forward estimate of 4.12% a year, a home in Virginia Beach would gain roughly 50% in value over a decade — before any of the costs that actually decide the question: closing costs, maintenance, property tax, the mortgage interest you'd pay, and what your down payment would have earned invested instead.
Worth being explicit about what that estimate is: it blends the 20-year record (2.77%) with the last three years (6.13%), so a market in a sharp recent run-up or correction lands between the two rather than at either extreme. It is an estimate, not a forecast anyone can guarantee — which is exactly why TerraVue simulates a range of outcomes instead of quoting one number.
Rent is the other side. At a median of $1,985, the yearly rent bill in Virginia Beach is about $23,820. Whether buying beats that depends almost entirely on the price you'd pay and how long you'd stay — which is what the simulator is for.
This page describes the Virginia Beach market as a whole. Whether buying beats renting depends on the price you'd pay, your down payment, and how long you'd stay — TerraVue simulates about 1,000 market scenarios on those inputs and returns the probability, not a single guessed number. It'll start with 23464's real appreciation and rent already loaded.
Analyze a property free →Averages hide a lot. Across Virginia Beach's 9 ZIP codes, long-run appreciation ranges from 3.79% to 4.33% a year — a spread of 0.5 percentage points. Over a 10-year hold, that difference compounds into a substantially different outcome for two buyers in the same city.
| ZIP | Appreciation/yr | Recent 3yr | Rent | Bachelor's+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23452 | 4.33% | 6.66% | $1,816 | 32% |
| 23456 | 4.29% | 6.51% | $2,724 | 46% |
| 23455 | 4.28% | 6.68% | $2,303 | 44% |
| 23451 | 4.19% | 6.26% | $1,989 | 54% |
| 23464 | 4.18% | 6.29% | $1,981 | 39% |
| 23453 | 4.05% | 5.73% | $1,929 | 31% |
| 23462 | 3.86% | 5.43% | $1,914 | 32% |
| 23457 | 3.80% | 6.27% | — | 26% |
| 23454 | 3.79% | 5.40% | $2,089 | 43% |
Sorted by long-run blended appreciation. Green is at least 0.5pp above the national average, red at least 0.5pp below; smaller gaps are left neutral. ZIPs shown as links have their own detail page.
Appreciation comes from the FHFA House Price Index — a repeat-sales index that tracks the same homes over time, which is why it isn't distorted by a change in the mix of what sold in a given year. TerraVue reads it at the ZIP level, back to 1975 where coverage allows.
The forward estimate blends 60% of the longest available look-back (20 years where available) with 40% of the most recent 3 years. Long-run history is the more reliable signal, but a market that has genuinely changed pace should not be ignored — the 60/40 split is the compromise, and it's the same figure TerraVue's simulation uses.
The national comparison is the population-weighted average of these same blended ZIP-level figures, so it compares like with like.
It depends on the price of the specific home and how long you'd stay. What the data settles is the market backdrop: over the past 20 years Virginia Beach, VA home prices have risen about 2.77% a year, and TerraVue's forward estimate is 4.12% — above the national average of 4.02% — against a median rent near $1,985. TerraVue runs about 1,000 scenarios on a specific price to return the probability that buying beats renting, plus the breakeven year.
Over the past 20 years, about 2.77% a year; over the past three, 6.13%. TerraVue's forward estimate blends the two at 4.12%. All of it comes from FHFA repeat-sales data across 9 ZIP codes, and individual ZIPs range from 3.79% to 4.33% on that same forward basis.
23452 at 4.33% a year, versus 23454 at 3.79% — a spread of about 0.5 percentage points a year within the same city.
Around $1,985 — the median across the city's ZIP codes, from the Zillow Observed Rent Index (all homes).