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HUD Releases Preliminary American Housing Survey Data

by devteam July 6th, 2010 | Share

The latest iteration of the annual Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) American Housing Survey (AHS) found that homes in the U.S. are continuing to grow in size and complexity even since the start of the housing collapse.  </p

HUD released a brief summary of the survey results late last week and the data is available on line to researchers who canaccess it using SAS.  The final report which is due shortly promises to be massive; the last survey in 2007 was 642 largely tabular pages.  HUD has conducted the survey every other year since 1973.rn<br /
“This important survey provides us a clear picture of the American home and its occupants,” said Dr. Raphael Bostic, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. “The housing crisis makes clear the need for continued collection of high quality housing data to help us understand housing markets. The numbers behind this survey not only provide valuable information on the composition of our housing stock, but they also help us monitor the mortgage markets, measure worst-case housing needs, and inform our policy choices.”</p

HUD said that the New Orleans survey, which was previously conducted in 2004, would be particularly helpful in providing an in-depth progress report of the city's redevelopment since the 2005 hurricanes Rita and Katrina.</p

Respondents were asked dozens of questions about their residential situation including the length of their commute, how their homes are financed, their satisfaction with the home's environment, and information about the size, condition, and amenities of the homes themselves.  Forrnthe first time the survey includes data on the disability status of household members.</p

Here are some of the preliminary findings.</p<ul class="unIndentedList"<liTherernare 130,112 million residential housing units in the U.S. and 86 percent ofrnthose are occupied; 68 percent are owner-occupied.</li<li51 percent are located in suburban areas; 29 percent in central cities;rnand 20 percent outside metropolitan areas. 18 percent are located in the Northeast; 23rnpercent in the Midwest; 37 percent in the South; and 22 percent in the West.</li<liThe median size of an occupied home is 1,800 square feet (compared torn1,610 in 1985, the earliest year this piece of information was collected), withrnowner-occupied units being larger than renter-occupied ones. Newer Homes arernalso usually larger, with a median size of 2,300 square feet. Even those homes newly constructed since thern2007 AHS are generally larger, more expensive, have more bedrooms andrnbathrooms, and are more likely to include amenities such as central air conditioning.</li

  • While houses are growing, theirrnyards are shrinking. Median lot size forrnsingle-family homes, including mobile homes, is 0.27 acres (compared to .36rnacres in 1973) with owner-occupied units generally sitting on more land thanrnrenter-occupied ones.</li<li53rnpercent of homes contain at least six rooms compared to 48 percent inrn1973. 65 percent of newly constructedrnhomes have six rooms or more.</li<liThreernbedrooms are becoming more and more common; 65 percent of homes have at leastrnthree as do 80 percent of new homes. Inrn1973 slightly less than half of homes had three bedrooms or more.</li<liMore than half of homes (51 percent) have two or more bathroomsrncompared to just 19 percent in 1973. New units have more bathrooms; 89 percentrnof them have two or more. Virtually all homes have complete plumbingrnfacilities.</li<liAbout half (48 percent) have a separate dining room and three in tenrnunits (30 percent) report two or more living rooms or recreation rooms. 35rnpercent have a functioning fireplace.</li<liAll homes have a refrigerator and kitchen sink and 99 percent have arncooking stove or range. Overall 98 percent of units have a full kitchen. </li
  • 66 percent of homes arernequipped with a dishwasher, 52 percent a garbage disposal, and over 80 percentrnhave a washer, dryer, or both, but only 3 percent have a trash compactor.</li
  • Most homes have some airrnconditioning; 65 percent have central air and another 21 percent use windowrnunits. 89 percent of new homes haverncentral air. This is a quantum increasernfrom 1973 when only 17 percent of homes were centrally air conditioned althoughrn30 percent had window units.</li
  • While the major source ofrnheat in American homes is piped gas (51 percent) and 34 percent, including mostrnnew homes, used electricity, the numbers reverse when it comes to cooking. 60 percent have electric stoves while 35rnpercent cook with gas. </li
  • More than eight in tenrnunits (88 percent) receive water from a public system or private company, andrnthe remaining units received water from wells. 80 percent of homes are onrnpublic sewer with the remainder using private facilities such as a septic tankrnor cesspool.</li
  • About half of homes arernlocated near public transportation but only 17 percent of the people living inrnthose homes actually use the service.</li
  • 60 percent of householdsrnwith elementary school-aged children report that they live within one mile ofrnan elementary school and 95 percent of homes are located close to a grocery orrndrug store. </li</ul

    The summary report did notrnreport any of the home financing data collected in the survey.

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    • About the Author

    devteam

    Steven A Feinberg (@CPAsteve) of Appletree Business Services LLC, is a PASBA member accountant located in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

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