The average cost of a home in Hampton Roads rose 10 percent in the last year, making it almost as unaffordable as California's Bay Area, according to Kiplinger research.

WHRO’s newsroom is exploring why housing in Hampton Roads is so expensive and why so many residents struggle to find and pay for safe, quality housing and is seeking input from the community. If you live in Hampton Roads and are looking for housing, facing housing challenges or have questions about housing-related topics, we’d like to hear from you here. WHRO reporters will reach out to you before any of your story or information is published.

“We know housing affordability is a concern for many people in Hampton Roads, and we want our coverage of the topic to be responsive and interactive,” said WHRO News Director Mechelle Hankerson. “We hope this project can be a true collaboration between our reporters and people in the community.”

The project will provide interactive visualizations so residents can see how housing prices have changed in their neighborhoods. We will rely heavily on residents’ input to guide story topics.

WHRO Public Media received a $6,500 grant from the Pulitzer Center to increase its reporting on housing affordability in Hampton Roads. This is the second award the station’s newsroom has received from the Pulitzer Center. The first project, At A Crossroads, has won numerous awards from the Virginia Association of Broadcasters and Public Media Journalists Association.

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