• Housing
• Housing Profile
• Goal 1
• Goal 2

Housing Profile

Housing Units

Between 1990 and 2012, the total number of housing units within the corporate limits of Shepherdstown increased from 409 to 525, which is an increase of 28.6%. The rate of growth in the number of housing units in the area within the town’s Growth Management Boundary was significantly higher, growing from 1,601 units in 1990 to 2,264 units in 2012, which is an increase of 41.4%. If the housing units within the corporate limits of Shepherdstown are excluded from that statistic, the rate of growth in the unincorporated portion of the area within the Growth Management Boundary was marginally higher, growing from 1,192 housing units in 1990 to 1,739 housing units in 2012, or a rate of increase of 45.9%. Note that the statistical profile of housing excludes the “group quarters” housing on the campus of Shepherd University.

HOUSING UNITS QUICK FACTS

• The corporate limits of Shepherdstown contain 2.4% of the total number of housing units in Jefferson County.
  
• The area within the town’s Growth Management Boundary contains approximately 10% of the total number of housing units in Jefferson County.
  
• The number of dwelling units in Jefferson County increased by over 51% between 1990 and 2012.
  
• The 525 dwelling units in the corporate limits of Shepherd-stown are equivalent to approximately 1,400 dwelling units per square mile, or 2.2 dwelling units per acre.
  
• The density of dwelling units within the corporate limits is over 15 times higher than is found in the Growth Manage-ment Boundary.
  
• The density of dwelling units within the corporate limits is 6 times higher than the housing density in Ranson and over 3.5 times higher than in Charles Town.

Housing Types

Single family dwellings are the predominant housing type both within the corporate limits of Shepherdstown as well as in the larger area within the town’s Growth Management Boundary, representing just over 70% of the total number of housing units within the town and over 85% of the total number of housing units in the town’s Growth Management Boundary. When housing units within the corporate limits are excluded, the share of the housing stock made up of single family dwellings in the area covered by the Growth Management Boundary increases to nearly 90%.

Within the town’s corporate limits multi-family dwellings comprise nearly 23% of the housing stock, compared to only around 8% in the larger Growth Management Boundary. Excluding the multi-family housing units found within the corporate limits from the Growth Management Boundary, its share of multi-family housing drops to only 3.2%.

Duplexes and manufactured housing units (mobile homes) make up the remaining portion of the housing stock. Within the town, duplexes account for 4% of the housing stock, while manufactured housing units account for around 2% of the housing stock. In the larger area covered by the Growth Management Boundary, duplexes account for less than 3% of the housing stock and manufactured housing accounts for approximately 4% of the housing stock. Excluding housing units within town, the share of manufactured housing within the Growth Management Boundary is nearly 5% of the housing stock.

HOUSING TYPES QUICK FACTS

• The number of single family dwelling units in the corporate limits of Shepherdstown increased by 33% between 1990 and 2012
• The number of multi-family dwelling units in the corporate limits of Shepherdstown increased by 45%between 1990 and 2010.
  
• The number of single family dwelling units in the Growth Management Boundary increased by over 53%between 1990 and 2012.
  
• Jefferson County has nearly 1,500 manufactured housing units, making up nearly 7% of the total housing stock in the county.
  
• Jefferson County has approximately 1,700 multi-family housing units (excluding duplexes), which make up 7.7% of the county’s total housing stock.
• The share of multi-family housing found in the county as a whole is equal to the share found in the Growth Management Boundary, including the area within the corporate limits of Shepherdstown.
• Shepherdstown contains approximately 7% of the multi-family housing units in Jefferson County, but only 2.4% of the total number of dwelling units in the county.
  
• The Growth Management Boundary contains just over 6%of the manufactured housing units in Jefferson County, while it contains over 10% of the total number of dwelling units in the county.

Age of Housing Stock

The age of the housing stock within the corporate limits of Shepherdstown trends much older than what is seen in the Growth Management Boundary and in Jefferson County as a whole. With nearly 44% of the entire housing stock constructed prior to 1939 (earliest Census data point), the share of the housing stock in that category is twice as high as that found in the Growth Management Boundary (20%) and over 4 times greater than the share of older housing found in Jefferson County as a whole (11.3%). Housing units built after 2000 make up only 6.5% of the housing stock within the corporate limits of Shepherdstown, while over 20% of the housing stock in the Growth Management Boundary and nearly 22% of the housing stock in Jefferson County as a whole was constructed after 2000.

Housing Vacancy

The housing vacancy rate within the corporate limits of Shepherdstown was 11.1% in 2012. This is slightly higher than the vacancy rates seen in the Growth Management Boundary (9.2%) and within Jefferson County as a whole (9.6%). Given the transient nature of the student population that resides off-campus in town, this observed vacancy rate is not higher than what would be reasonably expected. The vacancy rate in the town is actually lower than the observed rate in 1990, when nearly 14% of the housing stock in town was vacant, but higher than what was seen in 2000, when slightly less than 10% of the town’s housing stock was unoccupied.

Home Ownership

Fewer than half (47.6%) of the town’s occupied housing units were occupied by the owners of the dwellings, while 52.4% of the occupied housing stock was occupied by renters. The rate of owner occupancy in town was significantly lower than what was seen in the Growth Management Boundary, which had an ownership rate of around 72%, as well as in Jefferson County as a whole, where nearly 77% of the housing stock was occupied by the homeowner. Since 1990, ownership rates have steadily declined in Shepherdstown, while corresponding rates of renter occupancy have increased. In 1990, the ownership rate was over 60%, and declined to just over 53% in 2000. This is in stark contrast to the trend seen in Jefferson County as a whole, where owner occupancy rates increased from around 64% in 1990 to nearly 70% in 2000 before reaching the peak of almost 77% seen in 2012.

Home Values

The median home value within the corporate limits of Shepherdstown was $293,800 in 2012, which was around 6.5% lower than the median value of homes within the Growth Management Boundary ($314,300) and over 31% higher than the median home value in Jefferson County as a whole ($223,700). The median home value in Shepherdstown has increased significantly since 1990, when the median value was $102,604 and 2000, when the median value was $158,125. The difference between the median values in 1990 and 2012 is $191,196, which represents an increase of approximately 186% over that time period. During the same time period, the median value in the Growth Management Boundary increased by an even higher 218%, with a 1990 median value of only $98,847. Jefferson County as a whole had a lower median value in 1990, at only $84,141, and increased at a lower rate of around 166% between 1990 and 2012.

Monthly Rent Costs

In 2012, there was very little difference in the median rents seen within the corporate limits of Shepherdstown ($883), the Growth Management Boundary ($871) and Jefferson County as a whole ($850). Between 1990 and 2012, the median rent in Shepherdstown increased by 190%, or $578 per month, from the median 1990 rent of $305 per month. This increase closely tracked the percentage increase seen in median home values in town over that same time period.

• Housing
• Housing Profile
• Goal 1
• Goal 2