What the Latest American Community Survey Tells us About Housing Trends

November 8, 2024 | by Michael Wilt

Categories: Affordable Housing, First Time Buyer, Home Buyer Education, Homelessness, Homeownership, Rental Housing

Every year, the U.S. Census Bureau conducts the American Community Survey (ACS) to gather important data about our country and people. This information helps policy makers determine how to invest federal funding, and it helps researchers and other interested parties extract valuable information and evaluate demographic trends to better respond to our country's ongoing affordability challenges. 

In September, 2023 survey data became available, and the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University began analyzing it to identify important trends in housing. Recently, they shared 10 major housing headlines based on the data, and we'd like to highlight the ones that are most pertinent to affordable housing.  

AFFORDABILITY CHALLENGES PERSIST FOR RENTERS AND HOMEOWNERS

For the first time, more than half of all renters are now housing cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. And what's more troubling is that more than 25% of renters spend more than half their income on housing, making them severely housing cost burdened.

Homeowners fair marginally better, with 23% (19.8 million households) defined as cost burdened, but that number has grown by 3.2 million households since 2019. Two primary drivers for increased homeownership costs are rising property taxes and insurance premiums. 

Rents are rising faster than wages

In 2023, the median renter made $51,700 which is up 22% since 2019. But during that same time, the median rent increased 28%, rising to $1,406 as of last year. And while rents have cooled off some since peaking several years ago, they still increased 8% from 2022-2023 while renter wages increased just 5%.  

Looking at demographic trends in homeownership

For the first time in a decade, homeownership fell for households under the age of 35. The 2023 rate for younger homeowners stands at 36.1%, down half a percent from 2022. There was also a slight decline of 0.1% for the 36-44 age demographic.

On the flip side, homeownership among Black households is up 0.6% from 2022 to 2023 and stands at 44.7%. While this is progress, Black homeownership still lags 27.7% behind the homeownership rate for white households. TSAHC has been involved in increasing the homeownership rate among Black households in Harris County through the "Own the Hou" initiative generously funded by Wells Fargo.

single-family rentals are up

As of last year, 14.3 million renters opted to live in single-family homes, which was up 22,000 from 2022. This marks the first time that number has gone up since 2016. This is likely due to more single-family homes being built for rent and also the ongoing affordability challenges surrounding homeownership. 

Remote work dropped but remains high

At its peak in 2021, 17.9% of the workforce was remote. But as some companies are bringing workers back to the office, that number has dropped to 13.8% as of 2023. Despite the dip, this is still markedly higher than 2019 when only 5.7% of workers were remote. These trends tend to affect housing as they impact the size of homes and where they're located.

Click here to review the full data available on the U.S. Census Bureau's website. 

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On the House blog posts are meant to provide general information on various housing-related issues, research and programs. We are not liable for any errors or inaccuracies in the information provided by blog sources. Furthermore, this blog is not legal advice and should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney.