Housing Data From the U.S.

Census Bureau: What’s Available

and How to Access It

2011 International Builder’s Show

January 2011

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Census Bureau Mission

The Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy. We honor privacy, protect confidentiality, share our expertise globally, and conduct our work openly. We are guided on this mission by our strong and capable workforce, our readiness to innovate, and our abiding commitment to our customers.

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The Census Bureau

• Collects data using large scale surveys of households and businesses

• These data are used to create estimates for the United States

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Types of Data

The Census Bureau collects data on:

• People (individuals, households and families)

• Businesses and Industry (new construction, foreign trade and other economic indicators)

• Housing (tenure, occupancy status, types of homes, details on homes, financing, etc.)

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Housing Demand Data

• Number and type of households

• Number and type of new households being formed

• Tenure status of persons living in your area

• What do they earn?

• Are they employed?

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Supply Data

• Number and types of homes under construction in your region

• Number and types of homes already existing in your area

• Prices of homes in your area

• Vacancy rates of homes in your area

• Some data on the workforce (builders, workers, etc.) at the state-level is available from the Economic Census, which is conducted every 5 years.

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Data Sources

• American Community Survey

• American Housing Survey

• Survey of Market Absorption

• Housing Vacancy Survey

• New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey

• Rental Housing Finance Survey (upcoming)

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More Data Sources

• Building Permits Survey

• Survey of Construction

• Manufactured Housing Survey

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Using Data

A few things to keep in mind:

• Geographic detail

• Characteristic detail

• Frequency of data collection

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ABOUT THE DATA

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American Community Survey (ACS)

• Surveys almost 2 million U.S. households.

• Data are available as 1-year stand-alone, 3-years combined and as of Dec. 2010 5-years combined.

• Allows for information at very small levels of geography (the 5-year data has information all the way down to the block group level).

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ACS Demand Data• Population and household counts

• Details on types of households, including living arrangements and household size

• Information on recent movers

• Tenure status

• Demographic data such as income, poverty level, employment status, education, race/ethnicity, presence of children, disability status etc.

• Information on commuting to work, including transportation and travel time

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Example: Household Type

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Example: Household Type by Units

in Structure

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Example: Number with Ambulatory

Difficulties

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ACS Supply Data

• Number and type of housing units

• Characteristics of homes in the area

• Vacancy status

• Value of homes

• Prices of homes

• Mortgage status

• Amount paid in rent

• Housing cost

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Example: Vacancy Status

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Example: Mortgage Status by

Household Income

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Example: Median Value By Year

Structure Built

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American Housing Survey (AHS)

• Surveys more than 50,000 housing units nationallyevery two years.

• Has additional sample for metropolitan areas (so far almost 50 metro areas have been surveyed and they are surveyed 4-6 years)

• Is longitudinal – some households have been in the survey since 1985.

• Available geography – national and regional; some metropolitan areas and select sub-areas within those metros

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Just Some AHS Subject Areas

Neighborhood quality,

Neighborhood problems,

Crime, Litter, Pollution,

Internal and External Building

Condition

Residential alterations and

home repairs

Household education, income

and race/ethnicity

Mortgage financing,

Rent controls &

Rent subsidies

Utilities and energy

usage

Inventory composition,

Units in structure,

Square footage

The homes people left, and

why they moved here

Questions AHS Can AnswerSome examples of questions that can be answered:

• Is there an adequate supply of housing and how inventoryhas changed over time?

• What is the quality of the housing and neighborhoods we live in?

• How have housing characteristics and amenities changed over time?

• What are the improvements and repairs we make to our homes?

• How much does housing cost how it varies for different groups and over time?

• How do we finance our housing?

• Are homeownership rates equal for all groups?

• Information on housing that is no longer in stock22

ACS versus AHSACS

• Small levels of geography

(block groups on 5-year)

• Has basic housing

characteristics, supply,

demand and price

information

• Surveys units only one time

• Data released annually

AHS

• National, regional and some

metros

• Detailed information on

housing, including home

improvement, financing,

equipment, amenities, fuel

use, etc.

• Longitudinal – follows same

housing unit over time

• Survey conducted once every

two years (national) and 4-6

years (metro)23

Other Housing Data

Survey of Market Absorption – surveys residential buildings of 5 or more units and collects information on amenities, rents, sales prices, number of units, type of building and number of units taken off market (absorbed).

Rental Housing Finance Survey – a survey that will be fielded in 2011 and will gather information on how multi-family rental units are financed. The plan is to field it every 2 years.

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Other Housing Data (contd.)

Housing Vacancy Survey – provides current information on rental and homeowner vacancy rates and characteristics of units available for occupancy.

New York City Housing Vacancy Survey – provides information on rental vacancy rates, rent regulation status, characteristics of home and the people who live in them for New York City every 3 years.

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Construction Data – Building

Permits Survey

This survey collects data from local building permit offices to provide the most detailed, local data on new residential construction:

• Data include building permit authorizations and permit valuation.

• Data for about 9,000 local jurisdictions are available monthly and for all 20,000 jurisdictions are available annually. Annual data for 2010 will be released on May 2, 2011.

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Construction Data – Survey of

ConstructionCollects data by following a sample of building permits through the completion of construction to provide a wide variety of estimates:

• Monthly starts and completion for single and multi-family homes, and sale and sale prices for single-family homes.

• Quarterly price indexes for homes sold and under construction.

• Estimates for the 9 Census divisions going back to 2005 is upcoming. Currently regional estimates are available.

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Construction Data – Survey of

Construction (contd.)

• New housing characteristics, including information on square footage, materials used, financing, number of rooms, etc., are available at the national and regional levels.

• Selected characteristics are released quarterly. The initial release of 2010 data will be on February 16, 2011 and all characteristics will be released June 1, 2011.

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Construction Data – Survey of

Construction (contd.)

• New characteristics, such as framing material and laundry location, will be included in the June 1, 2013 release, with data for 2009 – 2012.

• Microdata from the Survey of Construction are available for purchase annually from the U.S. Census Bureau. The new characteristics have been included with the microdata since 2009.

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Other Construction Data (contd.)

Manufactured Homes Survey – produces monthly regional estimates of new manufactured home placements, average sales prices and inventories.

Survey of Residential Alterations and Repairs – was last collected in 2007 and provided information on the remodeling activities in the country.

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ACCESSING THE

DATA

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Ways to Access Data

• American Fact Finder (mainly ACS)

• Tables and other products published by Census (all the surveys mentioned)

• Microdata/Public Use Files (these data files are available for most surveys in different locations)

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Data Are Available At

www.census.gov

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ACCESSING THE AMERICAN

HOUSING SURVEY

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ACCESSING THE AMERICAN

COMMUNITY SURVEY USING

AMERICAN FACT FINDER

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ACCESSING CONSTRUCTION

DATA

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Visit Us At Booth W1384

American Housing Survey Branch

Residential Construction Branch

U.S. Census Bureau

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Contact Information

Mousumi Sarkar

American Housing Survey Branch

Phone: 301-763-3235

Email: mousumi.sarkar@census.gov

Cheryl Cornish

Residential Construction Branch

Phone: 301-763-6150

Email: MCD.RCB.Customer.Service@census.gov

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mailto:mousumi.sarkar@census.gov