The Evolution of Housing Data in the United States, Part 2: The Rise of Modern Housing Data

The Evolution of Housing Data in the United States, Part 2: The Rise of Modern Housing Data

Renamed the American Housing Survey in 1984 and today conducted biennially, the Annual Housing Survey has been a joint effort of HUD and US Census Bureau since 1973 and is the most comprehensive housing survey in the United States.

Introduction

When the United States conducted the first Census of Housing in 1940, the event marked a turning point for the nation's housing data system. Policymakers no longer had to search for housing data scattered across many local jurisdictions and private companies. For the first time, the U.S. government would collect housing data through a single survey of national scope. Additional national data collection efforts over the following decades have brought about the modern housing data system that exists today. The second and final part of this series on the evolution of housing data in the United States tracks these developments by highlighting the key federal efforts and emerging technologies that shape our current housing data ecosystem. (Part 1 of the series is here).

The Census of Housing

As mandated by Congress, the U.S. Census Bureau conducted the Census of Housing in 1940, which was the first national-level survey of the nation's housing stock. The Census of Housing surveys, which were a core part of decennial census data collection until they were replaced by the American Community Survey (ACS) in 2005, included data on the number of dwelling units, rooms in a home, plumbing facilities, homeownership, tenure, and monthly rent or home value depending on whether the home was rented or owned. The U.S. Census Bureau released summary statistics and general findings to researchers and members of the public interested in analyzing national housing trends. These data gave policy leaders information about the nation's housing stock that they could use to address housing conditions issues and shortages. Full microdata of individual households for the Census of Housing from 1940 to 2000 became available in 2012 at the National Historical Geographic Information System.

The American Community Survey

Since 2005, the ACS has provided annual estimates on various housing-related categories. Although many of the survey questions once asked on the Census of Housing have migrated to the ACS, some core questions, such as those on tenure status, occupancy, and vacancy, remain on both the decennial census and the ACS. Over time, ACS has added questions that collect data on mortgage status, rent burden, and other affordability aspects such as utilities and energy costs. As a continuously updated nationwide survey, the ACS gives researchers and others the opportunity to track housing trends annually and at various geographical levels.

The Creation of HUD and HUD surveys

Rapid population growth in the United States following World War II highlighted the need for housing data that more accurately tracked population and housing trends. In 1965, Congress created the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to consolidate federal housing programs and data collection under a single federal agency. At the same time, several national commissions recommended that the United States conduct an annual survey of housing.

Since 1973, HUD has sponsored, and the U.S Census Bureau has conducted, the Annual Housing Survey, which was renamed as the American Housing Survey (AHS) in 1984. The AHS is the most comprehensive longitudinal housing survey in the United States, collecting data on housing characteristics, costs, quality, and demographic characteristics of residents for academics, researchers, private institutions, and government agencies. HUD uses AHS data to produce its biennial Worst Case Housing Needs Report to Congress. Between 1985 and 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau implemented the AHS biannually, releasing public use file microdata through data platforms such as the table creator. Moving forward, HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau will transition to continuous data collection, meaning that the agency will collect data in every month of every year rather than every two years. This change will allow AHS to produce both 1-year and 2-year estimates.

In recent decades, HUD has sponsored several other national housing surveys administered in cooperation with the U.S. Census Bureau that collect data on elements of the U.S. housing system. For example, HUD jointly sponsors the Survey of Construction (SOC) with the U.S. Census Bureau. The SOC has provided national and regional statistics on a monthly and annual basis on housing starts (since 1959) and completions (since 1968) of new single-family and multifamily housing units and statistics on sales (since 1963) of new single-family houses. HUD is the sole sponsor of the Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units (SOMA), which uses the SOC as its sampling base. Since the early 1970s, SOMA has provided quarterly and annual information on amenities, rent or sales price levels, the number of units, the building type, and the number of units absorbed (rented or sold) into the housing market. Similarly, HUD is the sole sponsor of the Manufactured Housing Survey (MHS), which produces regional estimates of the average sales price for new manufactured homes each month and includes annual data on shipments, prices, placements, and characteristics of new manufactured housing. Some of the available MHS data date back to 1974. Finally, since 2012, HUD has sponsored the Rental Housing Finance Survey (RHFS), which measures the financial, mortgage, and property characteristics of rental housing properties in the United States. HUD also collects data and produces reports on housing-related issues such as homelessness. Through the Point-in-Time Counts, which began in 2005, and the Homeless Management Information System, which released its first national standards in 2004, HUD produces an Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress that started in 2007 and continues to the present.

HUD administrative data

In addition to sponsoring surveys, HUD also has compiled some of its administrative data into publicly available datasets, such as "Picture of Subsidized Households" (Picture), the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Database, and the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS).

For more than 20 years, HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) has drawn from the agency's major data collection systems to assemble the Picture dataset, which provides comprehensive aggregated data on households receiving assistance provided under HUD programs; specifically, the public housing, housing choice voucher, project-based Section 8, Section 236 Preservation, Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly, and Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities programs. Picture data are summarized to public housing agencies and projects and at various geographic scales. Picture primarily provides information about participants in HUD's subsidy programs, including household income, household size, age of householder, and number of households with children, among others, but it also provides information about neighborhood characteristics, including poverty rates and single-family homeownership rates, as well as information about program participation, including the number of assisted units. Since 2000, Picture data have been available through a web-based query and download tool, but HUD distributed earlier versions (from the 1970s, 1996, 1997, and 1998) as printed publications.

HUD's LIHTC property dataset is an inventory of all housing projects and units that were placed in service through the LIHTC program starting in 1987. The LIHTC property database has been available to the public since 1994 and provides information such as location, the number of bedrooms, the year the credit was allocated, the year the project was placed in service, the type of credit, and more. LIHTC tenant data also are collected, aggregated to the state level, and reported annually as required by The Housing Recovery Act of 2008. You can find these tables for information on LIHTC tenants here.

HUD generates CHAS data to estimate housing needs and problems for low-income households. PD&R manages CHAS, which is a custom tabulation of the ACS that was first drawn from 1990 and 2000 decennial census data. CHAS combines ACS microdata with HUD-adjusted median family incomes to estimate the number of households qualifying for HUD assistance. Available for states, counties, county subdivisions, places, and census tracts, CHAS has long been used by HUD grantees to meet their consolidated planning needs. Researchers, program administrators, nonprofits, and evaluators also use the data to examine specific housing needs at a range of geographies.

HUD has compiled a wide range of geographic information system (GIS) data in recent years, giving researchers the ability to conduct spatial analysis using HUD datasets. HUD has integrated geocodes into many administrative datasets, such as LIHTC, Picture, and U.S. Postal Service Vacancy data. HUD created a modern Enterprise Geographic Information System (eGIS) Geospatial Data Storefront in 2015. These GIS products help researchers visualize trends and compare different locations using all of HUD's geospatial datasets.

Private-sector data

Private-sector data also plays an important role in the contemporary housing data ecosystem. Private companies publish rental listing and transaction data that offer a real-time summary of home prices and rents. These data sources became prominent in the late 2000s and are used frequently to this day. Data from credit bureaus also offer insights on mortgage performance, credit risk, and foreclosure status. Credit bureaus started collecting and producing mortgage performance data in the 1960s. These private data sources are particularly useful for research because they offer accurate, real-time data that are not available through surveys. These data sources and methods are usually proprietary and difficult to access, although they often can be purchased through subscriptions. HUD and other federal agencies sometimes supplement federal surveys with these data to research trends in housing markets. HUD uses data from private-sector sources to compile monthly, quarterly, and annual reports on housing market conditions. These real-time data sources help fill gaps in the federal data system.

Conclusion

Housing data in the United States has changed considerably from the colonial period to the present day, evolving from 18th century state and local property tax registers and 19th century fire insurance maps to current-day nationwide federal longitudinal surveys and real-time data dashboards. By tracking the historical origins and development of housing data in the United States and identifying strengths and weaknesses of different sources and methods, we not only highlight the shifts toward more systematic data collection efforts over time but also better understand the role of data in assessing the current state of affordability and shaping policy to address it. All elements of contemporary housing data — maps, surveys, administrative data and more — provide information that researchers, the private sector, and policymakers at all levels rely on to make efficient and informed decisions and design better policies to improve the nation's housing stock.

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