Free Publication Provides Background on Trends in Homes and Apartments - 2/9/2004 - Real Estate Home House Condo

Free Publication Provides Background on Trends in Homes and Apartments

The 50-page publication details annual home prices, mortgage interest rates and characteristics of new homes and apartments over the last 13 years. It also lists the top 50 metro markets for housing permits, popular materials used in new homes and apartments, and home buyer preferences.

Also featured in the new publication is a listing of the nation’s most affordable housing markets, information on how housing affects the economy and an examination of housing affordability issues. Homeownership rates and historical U.S. demographic data are also provided.

Following are just a few of the highlights from “Housing Facts, Figures & Trends 2004”:

• The top metro market for single-family permits in the first nine months of 2003 was Atlanta, with 40,580 permits issued. Other metros in the top five include Phoenix-Mesa, AZ; Riverside-San Bernardino, CA; Houston; and Washington, D.C., in that order.
• The top metro market for multifamily permits in the first nine months of 2003 was New York, with just over 15,000. Other metros in the top five include Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and Las Vegas, in that order.
• The median and average prices of new and existing homes more than doubled in the last two decades of the 20^th century.
• An average of 19 windows, 19 tons of cement and 13,837 board feet of framing lumber go into a typical newly built 2,272 square-foot home.
• A walk-in pantry is the most favored special feature in new-home kitchens, with 78% of respondents in a recent NAHB survey rating it as desirable or essential. The next most important kitchen features are island work areas (71%) and light wood cabinets (59%).
• Multifamily home building in 2002, which totaled 347,000 units, generated 357,000 jobs (in worker years of employment), $13.3 billion in wages and $7.1 billion in federal, state and local taxes, according to NAHB estimates.
• In the first 12 months after purchasing a newly built home, owners spend an average of $8,905 to furnish, decorate and improve their investment. Buyers of existing homes spend $3,766 more than non-moving home owners during the 12 months after purchasing their home, and renters also spend significant amounts on furnishing their new homes and apartments.

To download the publication, click here.