Tag Archive for ‘american housing survey’

Reasons Why Home Buyers Move

Data from the 2017 American Housing Survey (AHS) show that over half of recent home buyers – 55 percent – move ‘for a better home’ (Graph 1). Home buyers also move for ‘a better neighborhood’ (46 percent) and ‘to form a household’ (39 percent). In contrast, smaller shares of home buyers report moving ‘for a job’ (14 percent) and ‘to… Read More ›

Characteristics of Recent Home Buyers

A total of 8.8 million households bought homes in the two years preceding the release of the 2017 American Housing Survey (AHS).  For its February Special Study, the National Association of Home Builders used the 2017 AHS to analyze trends among recent home buyers. The AHS is a nationally representative survey of residential structures in the US and of the… Read More ›

Data Imply Most Homes Last More than a Century

Of the 132.42 million homes that existed in the U.S. in 2011, 98.8 percent (130.85 million) were still there two years later, according to a report published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 2016. The report is called Components of Inventory Change: 2011-2013, and is based on the American Housing Survey (AHS).  The AHS, funded by HUD and conducted in… Read More ›

The Aging Housing Stock

The American housing stock continues to age, especially as residential construction continues its modest rebound after the Great Recession. According to the latest 2013 American Housing Survey (AHS), published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the median age of owner-occupied homes is 37 years old, compared to only 27 years old in 1993. This aging trend signals a… Read More ›

New Version of NAHB’s House Price Estimator Now Available

Since 2004, NAHB’s interactive model for estimating the price of a single-family detached home has been available online for those who would like to use it.  The latest version of the house price estimator has just been released, calibrated by NAHB with data from the latest (2013) installment of the American Housing Survey (AHS, funded by HUD and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau)…. Read More ›

What Homes Do Millennials Buy?

New NAHB research shows that millennials tend to buy homes that are smaller, older, and less expensive than homes bought by older generations. Being the youngest home buyers with little or no accumulated wealth also affects how millennials shop and buy their homes. The majority of millennials are buying homes for the first time in their lives. Three out of… Read More ›

Do It Yourself or Hire a Professional?

To celebrate National Home Remodeling Month in May, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Remodelers recommends that home owners consider the safety risks, time delays and hidden costs before attempting do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvements. According to the 2011 American Housing Survey (AHS) from the HUD/Census Bureau, home owner do-it-yourself (DIY) projects accounted for 37 percent of all home remodeling projects… Read More ›

NAHB Finds Problems of Existing Housing Stock Often Understated

The traditional method for measuring the quality of homes, developed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), shows only about 1.5 percent as severely inadequate.  Using the same data source (the HUD/Census Bureau American Housing Survey), NAHB defined inadequate housing in a way that not only helps explain why prices and rents are sometimes lower than expected, but also shows… Read More ›

Who Lives in New Housing?

April is New Homes Month, so we thought we would take a look at the demographic data from the most recent edition of the American Housing Survey (AHS) to see who lives in newly constructed homes. The AHS defines new construction as housing units no more than four years of age. Typically, larger households are relatively more likely to live in new homes…. Read More ›