HUD has posted a new report on its HUD USER website entitled, “Housing Units that Serve Both the Renter and Owner Markets.” The report uses American Housing Survey (AHS) data over the period 1985-2009 to examine the characteristics of units that changed tenure between owner-occupied and renter-occupied. The report’s findings include:
- The most important distinguishing characteristics are structure type and size.
- Single-family attached units have a higher incidence of tenure change than single-family detached units or units in multi-unit structures.
- Smaller units, as measured by number of bedrooms, have a higher incidence of tenure change than larger units.
- Units tend to maintain the same tenure for long spans of time.
- There is a higher incidence of units that change tenure, as well as a higher incidence of renter-occupied units in general, in metropolitan areas that are undergoing rapid population growth.
