Housing data

The U.S. Census will be conducted this spring and summer.

We just completed our latest quarterly update to the Vermont Directory of Affordable Rental Housing (DoARH).

The DoARH contains detailed information about all of Vermont's 12,826 units of subsidized housing.

The Vermont Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development (DEHCD) will release the 2010 Vermont Housing Needs Assessment at a press event Tuesday, Dec. 22.

The event will be held at 1 p.m. in the Cedar Creek Room at the Vermont Statehouse on State Street, Montpelier.

Copies of the report will be available online as PDF downloads soon.

A recent report from the Center for Housing Policy shows housing affordability has worsened, despite dropping home prices.

"Housing Affordability Trends for Working Households" reports the number of working families across the nation with "severe housing cost burdens" rose from 18 to 20 percent from 2005-08.

The lowest-income families in the nation had an even more difficult time in 2008 finding affordable housing.

That's the conclusion of the National Low Income Housing Coalition's (NLIHC) analysis of 2008 American Community Survey data.

For every 100 extremely low-income households — those earning 30% or less of their area median income — there were 37 affordable rental units in 2008. That number is down from 39 the previous year.

Two interesting economic-related reports were released recently:

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston releases housing related economic indicators monthly. The results, shown in the table below, are from the October release.

Vermont's home prices have dropped less than New England's and the nation's, and the drop in the number of permits has been about equal to the decrease nationally.

Numbers released yesterday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) show foreclosures and mortgage loan delinquencies were at a record high in the third quarter of 2009.

Nationally, approximately 14 percent of all home loans were either delinquent or in some stage of foreclosure.

Vermont's numbers aren't nearly as bad (See map).

BusinessWeek has named St. Albans Vermont's "most affordable" suburb.

"Housing prices across the nation are being flattened by the worst economic crisis in decades," Prashat Gopal writes, "but it's still not necessarily easy to find affordable suburbs.

A recent study by the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) shows first-time homebuyers reached their highest market share on record during the past year.

The number of first-time buyers rose to 47 percent of all home sales, up from 41 percent in the previous year's study.

An independent review of VHFA’s single-family home loan portfolio shows property values increased by 24 percent compared to values at time of purchase.

The median increase in individual home values in VHFA’s portfolio was 14 percent.

“During this recession we’ve heard a lot about homes dropping in value, but properties in VHFA’s portfolio are doing well. This is evidence of the fiscal strength of the Agency,” said Executive Director Sarah Carpenter.