Housing Research

january - februay 2006

› Housing Vacancies and Homeownership, 4th Quarter, 2005,
U.S. Census Bureau
The Census Bureau released new data on housing vacancy and homeownership rates across the United States for the fourth quarter of 2005. The data shows few significant changes over the last year. The national homeownership rate stands at 69%, the same as a year ago, and the national rental housing vacancy rate remains stable at just under 10%. Vacancy rates are lower in cities (9.4%) and in the Northeast (6.7%), although few areas can compare with New York City’s crisis-level 3% vacancy rate. And homeownership for black families fell slightly, from 49% at the end of 2004 to 48% at the end of 2005; homeownership among black families remains far below the homeownership rate for white families.

› The Health of Homeless Adults in New York City, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Department of Homeless Services
This was the first in-depth study of the health of the city’s homeless adults, and its results were alarming. It revealed that homeless adults who use the single adult shelter system die at twice the rate of the general population, and adults using the family shelter system have a death rate 50% higher than the general population’s. Substance abuse and HIV/AIDS accounted for fully one-third of the deaths among users of the single adult shelter system; HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death for women using the single adult shelter system. Homeless adults were significantly more likely than the general population to be diagnosed with HIV and tuberculosis; they were hospitalized at a higher rate and had longer stays in the hospital. And between 2001 and 2003, 17 homeless adults froze to death on the city streets.

› A Dream Denied: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities, National Coalition for the Homelessness and National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty
New York City ranks 14th on a new list of the top 20 “meanest cities” for homeless people. The list is part of a report on cities' efforts over the past 25 years to use laws and law enforcement strategies to target homeless people. These strategies include laws against sleeping in public spaces, selective enforcement of laws against loitering, and strict penalties for panhandling or begging. According to the report's authors, arrests of homeless people in New York have increased dramatically under Mayor Bloomberg, and homeless people are also targeted by the police department’s crackdown on minor crimes including street peddling and fare-beating on buses.

› Pulling Apart: A State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends, Economic Policy Institute and Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
The income gap between rich and poor in New York State is worse than in any other state in the country, according to this study of nationwide and state-by-state income disparities. In New York during the 2000s, the average income of the richest 20% of families was more than eight times as much as the average income of the poorest 20%. New York also experienced the second-greatest increase in income inequality between the 1980s and 2000s: the poorest 20% of families saw their incomes grow by an average of only $1,901, while the richest 20% saw an average $104,927 increase.

November - December 2005

› U.S. Housing Market Conditions: Third Quarter, 2005, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its quarterly report on housing market conditions in mid-December. Housing starts set new records in the third quarter of 2005, but homeownership became less affordable: although interest rates remained low, housing prices increased, with a 3.8% increase in median price far outpacing a 1% increase in median income. The vacancy rate for rental apartments was just under 10%, slightly below the vacancy rate a year ago, and market absorption rates increased for rentals, with 65 percent of new units being rented within 3 months of completion.

› Out of Reach 2005, National Low Income Housing Coalition
The National Low Income Housing Coalition's annual report on rental housing affordability, released in mid-December, details the extent of the housing affordability crisis. Among its notable conclusions, it reveals that there is not a single county in the United States where a full-time worker earning the minimum wage can afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment. The report also includes an updated estimate of the "housing wage," or the monthly wage required for a full-time worker to be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment. The housing wage for New York State is $19.73 an hour; for the New York metropolitan area, it's $21.79 an hour.

› Can Growth Work for New York's Communities? Community Development, Social & Environmental Justice, and the City's Future, Pratt Center for Community Development
In conjunction with a December 1 conference, the Pratt Center released this briefing paper discussing the problems of affordable housing, economic justice and environmental justice that are the byproduct of the economic growth being experienced by almost every corner of the city.

› Hazardous Homes: How NYC Fails Its Tenants, Housing Here and Now
This report, released by Housing Here and Now in November, reveals that the city is lagging in its response to buildings and landlords with multiple, severe violations of the building code, leaving tenants at risk.

› Homelessness Counts in Major Cities and Counties, Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty, Weingart Center Association
The Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty at the Weingart Center has released a detailed count of the homeless population in metropolitan areas across the country. The locales with the largest numbers of homeless residents relative to total population are Detroit (1.6%) and Orange County, California (1.2%). For the New York metropolitan area, the ratio is 0.6%, with 48,000 homeless people counted among a population of 8.1 million.

September-October 2005

› HUD survey finds 1 in 400 Americans is homeless (link to USA Today article)
Before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck, approximately 727,304 people in America ÷ one in every 400 ÷ were homeless, according to the preliminary results of a national count released this week. The count was conducted by state and local governments at the request of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It was the first nationwide count of the homeless since a 2000 survey by the Urban Institute, which yielded an estimate of 444,000-842,000 homeless people.

› Understanding Family Homelessness in New York City: An In-Depth Study of Families' Experiences Before and After Shelter, Vera Institute of Justice
Although many people think of the typical homeless person as a single adult, families make up more than 75 percent of the city's shelter population. The Vera Institute of Justice has released a detailed study of family homelessness that illuminates some of the major reasons families become homeless ÷ and how those who successfully leave the shelter system for permanent housing are able to do so.

› Your Tax Dollars At Work: How NYC Subsidizes Slumlords, Housing Here and Now
The city grants landlords generous subsidies to provide temporary housing to homeless families leaving the shelter system and homeless people living with AIDS. Yet fully one-quarter of the buildings in which the city places these vulnerable populations have been deemed ãunsatisfactoryä by the city's own Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), according to a new report by Housing Here and Now. 45 percent of the buildings had at least one hazardous (Class B) or immediately hazardous (Class C) violation per unit. The list of landlords receiving these subsidies includes eight on HPD's 2003 Major Problem Owner list four of Housing Here and Now's ãTen Worst Landlords.ä

› High Stakes for the Housing Voucher Program in the 2006 Appropriations Bill, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities assesses the recent instability in funding for Section 8 housing vouchers and lays out a proposal for shoring up future funding in a recent report.