Data from the 2011 American Housing Survey which was released today provides a bonanza of information for housing advocates and researchers as well as the real estate, mortgage, homebuilding industries. Information from the survey covers virtually everything about the housing supply nationally and includes breakdowns for 29 selected metropolitan areas.

The survey has been conducted in odd-numbered years over the last four decades by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The most recent survey covered an estimated 132.4 million housing units.

Here is a sample of some of the information released from the survey which will give an indication of the level of the data's detail.

  • Of the nation's total housing units about 90 million are in single family houses, attached or detached; 10.7 million, are sited in two to four family buildings and 10.3 million are classified as condos or cooperatives. Slightly more than 5 million units are in large (50 units or more) apartment buildings, and 9.05 million are manufactured homes or trailers.

  • The median year of construction of the 114 million occupied units was 1974. Owner occupied units tend to be slightly newer (median year built 1976) than rented units (1972.) About 7.6 million units were built prior to 1920.

  • The median price for a home purchased in 2011 was $110,000, an increase of 2.3 percent from what was reported in the 2009 survey. The median price for a new home (constructed within the previous 4 years) was $235,000, down 2.1 percent from the earlier survey.

  • Of approximately 76 million owner occupied units about one-third are owned free and clear. Around 43 million have a single mortgage lien on the property and 6.5 million have two.

  • Among owner-occupied units, 46.3 percent had working carbon monoxide detectors and 72.5 percent of owner-occupied units had central air.

  • The median monthly mortgage payment for homeowners was $1,015 in 2011.

The survey data includes information on building characteristics such as types of heating systems and accessibility features, characteristics of the borrowers, geographic data, housing costs, and hundreds of other variables. Data is broken out by vacancy status and whether owner occupied or rented.

Kurt Usowki, HUD's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs said of the data, "The last five years remind us how central housing is to each of us personally, to the fiscal health of our cities and counties, and the national economy. For 40 years, the American Housing Survey has provided a unique set of data that connects the detailed characteristics of who is living in homes to the detailed characteristics of the homes themselves. From the American Housing Survey, we can see why people chose to move, how often homes need repairs, and the extent to which housing costs are outpacing income growth. All this information can help inform policymaking around continued recovery in the U.S. and in metropolitan areas around the country."

For a complete set of tables from the American Housing Survey, definitions, sample design, and more, see <http://www.census.gov/housing/ahs/>.