Housing Economics - 05/25/2011 (Plain Text Version)

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In this issue:
Housing Starts Fall 10.6 Percent as Uncertainty Continues
Special Study Articles By NAHB Economics
The National Outlook
Housing Market Statistics

Special Study Articles By NAHB Economics

Housing Opportunity Index by Race/Ethnicity in 2010

5/03. The National Association of Home Builders produces a quarterly index measuring housing affordability in the United States as well as in most of the country’s major metropolitan statistical areas. The index, known as the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), was launched in the first quarter of 1991 and has been published quarterly during the past 20 years. The national HOI is defined as the share of all homes sold in the country in any given quarter that were affordable to a family earning the national median income. Similarly, metropolitan area/division HOIs indicate the share of homes sold in a particular area that were affordable to families making the area’s median income.

Since its inception, the HOI has never been tabulated by race or ethnic group; rather it has always been computed as a global measure of affordability for the entire population of the nation or a particular metropolitan statistical area/division (available to the public at www.nahb.org/hoi). Income differences among races and ethnic groups, however, are so significant that NAHB decided it was worthwhile to use home price data from 2010 to produce separate HOIs by race/ethnicity.

This article presents NAHB's first-ever calculations of Housing Opportunity Indices broken down by race/ethnicity for the country as well as for its major metropolitan areas/divisions...Full Story.

4/04. Previously NAHB analyzed real estate taxes and tax rates for all states and metropolitan areas in 2007. The estimates were based on the 2005 American Community Survey (ACS) data gathered at the time when many housing markets were approaching the peak of the housing boom. At that time, home prices were rising so fast it was difficult for tax assessments to keep pace with housing appreciation. The current housing market is poles apart and real estate tax rates are likely to differ considerably from what they were in 2005. This article presents new estimates of property taxes and tax rates for US states and metropolitan areas based on the 2009 ACS data....Full Story.

3/02. The current housing downturn has affected not only the number of new homes that are built each year, but also the characteristics, features, and size of the ones that do get built. Many in the industry are wondering about how the new home will evolve over the next few years and whether those changes will stick once the economy bounces back to a more solid footing. In 2010, NAHB conducted a survey that sheds light on the likely characteristics of the average, new single-family detached home in 2015. This article summarizes the findings of that survey, which were released in December 2010 in a report titled The New Home in 2015...Full Story.