The source of this information, the American Housing Survey (AHS) [pdf], sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, entered its fourth decade with the publication of 2003 results on the Internet today. First conducted for 1973, the AHS provides information on a variety of topics, including homeownership, characteristics of homes and their owners, housing costs, vacation homes, gated communities and people’s views of their neighborhoods.

     Some highlights from the 2003 AHS:

• About 3.8 million homeowners had lump-sum home equity mortgages, down nearly 20 percent from 2001, when there were 4.7 million such loans.
• Homeowners occupied more than 72 million homes. Overall, the nation had about 106 million occupied housing units.
• Renters occupied 33.6 million housing units.
• The nation’s median current mortgage interest rate was 6.7 percent, down from 7.5 percent in 2001
• The median value of owner-occupied homes was $140,000.
• Between 2001 and 2003, the number of owner-occupied units with four or more bedrooms increased by about l million to 18.7 million.
• There were 3 million owner-occupied homes in gated communities.
• The vacancy rate for rental housing units was 9.6 percent, up from 7.8 percent in 2001.
• On a scale of 1-to-10, with 10 being the best, 3-in-4 homeowners rated their neighborhood an 8 or higher.

     The statistics released on the Internet will be available in printed reports later in the year. Statistics from surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.

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