Report Provides Data on New Housing

Now available from HUD's Office of University Partnerships… Colleges and Communities: Gateway to the American Dream This comprehensive look at the state of the Community Outreach Partnership Centers is available on the OUP website at www.oup.org. You may contact the University Partnerships Clearinghouse at P.O. Box 23268, Washington, D.C. 20026-3268–6091 or call (800) 245–2691.

HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau have released Characteristics of New Housing 1999, the latest report in the Current Construction Reports series. Data were obtained from the Census Bureau's Survey of Construction and Survey of Market Absorption. HUD sponsors all or part of these surveys.

This report provides annual estimates on selected physical and financial characteristics of new single-family and multifamily housing completed in 1999. Data are shown for the United States, inside or outside of metropolitan areas, and within each census region. The report also displays financial and physical characteristics data on new, single-family houses sold, including price indexes for single-family houses sold. Data on prices and costs per square foot for contractor-built houses started are also provided. This category covers custom-built, single-family houses; that is, houses built by a general contractor on the owner's land for the owner's use.

Other principal data sources include the Federal Housing Administration and Rural Housing Service, whose publications provide more detailed information on the characteristics of homes built under their respective programs. Data from the Federal Housing Finance Board series on interest rates and characteristics of conventional first mortgage loans also were used.

Finally, the report includes a supplement on the characteristics of apartment units completed in buildings with five units or more. The Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economics Statistics Division produces these data from the Survey of Market Absorption. This supplement shows data on the types of units completed, characteristics data on unfurnished rental apartments, and characteristics data on units sold through condominium arrangements.

Characteristics of New Housing 1999 in the Current Construction Reports series is available from HUD USER for $5. Use the order form.