Housing data

Research conducted by VHFA for the 2020-2025 Vermont Housing Needs Assessment reveals that Vermont’s non-White households fare worse than White households according to numerous economic and housing-related metrics. Much of the data from the report is available on VHFA’s regularly updated Vermont housing data site.

Newly released data from the 2020 Point-in-Time Count in January found 1,110 people experiencing homelessness in Vermont, a slight increase from the prior year. That number has increased to over 2,000 people during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness.

Until the recent COVID-19 restrictions, the number of Vermont homes used as short-term rentals has ticked up each year, according to a recent analysis by Vermont Housing Finance Agency. In a typical month last year, about 8,000 homes were listed as short-term rentals across the state. Largely located in towns located near Vermont ski areas, homes rented for short-term stays comprise about 2.5% of the state’s total housing stock, according to data from AirDNA, a service that aggregates listings from Airbnb, VRBO, and other popular short-term rental companies.    

The Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) is heeding the call Governor Phil Scott made ealier this week “to reflect on what role each of us can play to end hate, racism and bigotry.” As our nation grapples with complex discussions around institutional racism, the housing industry must be a focal vehicle for both analysis of past racism and how we can work toward eradicating institutional racism in the future. To do this we need to examine the role VHFA can play to address the reality that housing policy and finance has been used to perpetuate racial inequalities.

A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston estimates that job losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic could put 21,351 Vermont homeowner and 23,561 renter households at high risk of not being able to pay their mortgage or rent.

Haven’t gotten around to completing the 2020 Census yet? If you did not receive materials in the mail with instructions to complete the 2020 Census, you can follow the link below, which provides comprehensive instructions to complete the process:

Start questionnaire

On March 12th, the United States Census Bureau began issuing questionnaires in the mail to homes across the United States for residents to complete the 2020 Census. The very next day, Governor Phil Scott declared a state of emergency in Vermont due to the coronavirus pandemic and as of May 12th, only 49.7% of Vermont households have responded to the questionnaire, compared to a nationwide rate of 58.6%.

Vermont has received over 71,000 unemployment claims since the coronavirus pandemic reached the state.  An economic recession is almost certainly forthcoming. This economic disruption will impact Vermont’s housing markets and households, but the full effects will depend on the duration of the coronavirus outbreak.

Unemployment

New national research from the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation finds that children who grow up in housing funded by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC) program are more likely to enroll in higher education programs and have higher earnings as adults. The federal LIHTC program, which is administered in Vermont by VHFA, is the largest single source of funding for affordable rental housing development in the state.

The median Vermont primary home sold for $229,000 in 2019, according to Property Transfer Tax records, a 6.5% increase from 2018. This is the largest single year increase in median home prices since before the Recession, and a substantial increase over recent years’ home price growth. Since 2014, Vermont median home prices have increased by an average of 2.7% per year.

This commentary by VHFA Executive Director Maura Collins appeared recently in VTDigger

As the start of the 2020 U.S. census nears, it is important to understand its immense impact on our daily lives and why an accurate count of our nation’s population is so important.