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Welcome to Our Generation USA!

No Place Like Home,
This Web Page covers having a home, whether renting or buying, apartment, condo, mobile home, or a house, and other considerations of living a Domestic Lifestyle
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See Also:
American Lifstyles​​


HomePictured below: Clockwise from Upper Left: Tiny House, Dallas TV show's Southfork Ranch, Mobile Home Park, and Luxury Apartments.
​A home, or domicile, is a living space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for an individual, family, household or several families in a tribe. It is often a house, apartment, or other building, or alternatively a mobile home, houseboat, yurt or any other portable shelter.

A principle of constitutional law in many countries, related to the right to privacy enshrined in article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the inviolability of the home as an individual's place of shelter and refuge.

Homes typically provide areas and facilities for sleeping, preparing food, eating and hygiene.

Larger groups may live in a nursing home, children's home, convent or any similar institution. A homestead also includes agricultural land and facilities for domesticated animals.

Where more secure dwellings are not available, people may live in the informal and sometimes illegal shacks found in slums and shanty towns. More generally, "home" may be considered to be a geographic area, such as a town, village, suburb, city, or country.

Types of Homes:

Buildings:
​
A house is a building that functions as a home for humans ranging from simple dwellings such as rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to complex, fixed structures of wood, brick, or other materials containing plumbing, ventilation and electrical systems.

Most conventional modern houses will at least contain a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as chickens or larger livestock (like cattle) may share part of the house with humans. The social unit that lives in a house is known as a household.

Most commonly, a household is a family unit of some kind, although households may also be other social groups or individuals. The design and structure of homes is also subject to change as a consequence of globalization, urbanization and other social, economic, demographic, and technological reasons. Various other cultural factors also influence the building style and patterns of domestic space.

A terraced house is a style of medium-density housing where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls, while semi-detached housing consists of pairs of houses built side-by-side or (less commonly) back-to-back, sharing a party wall and with mirrored layouts.

An apartment (in American English) or a flat (in British English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies only part of a building. Such a building may be called an apartment building, apartment house (in American English), block of flats, tower block, high-rise or, occasionally mansion block (in British English), especially if it consists of many apartments for rent. In Scotland it is called a block of flats or if it's a traditional sandstone building a tenement, which has a pejorative connotation elsewhere.

Apartments may be owned by an owner/occupier by leasehold tenure or rented by tenants (two types of housing tenure).

A homestead consists of a dwelling, often a farm house, together with other buildings and associated land, and facilities for domesticated animals. In Southern Africa, the term can also refer to a cluster of several houses that is inhabited by a single family.

Portable shelters
For larger groups:
Informal:
Occupants:
​Further information: Household and Roommate

A home's occupants may be a single individual, a family, household, or several families in a tribe. Occupants may be part of other groups, such as nursing home residents or children in an orphanage. Domesticated or tamed animals may live alongside human occupants for various reasons.

Tenure:
​Main article: Housing tenure

The financial arrangements under which someone has the right to live in a home are, most frequently, tenancy, in which rent is paid by the tenant to a landlord, and owner-occupancy. Mixed forms of tenure are also possible.

Owner-occupancy:
Further information: Owner-occupancy

Rental accommodation
Further information: Renting

Squatting
Main article: Squatting

Squatting is an action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building – usually residential – that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use.

Homelessness:
Main article: Homelessness

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 contains the following text regarding housing and quality of living: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services..."

In 2004, the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, defined a homeless household as "those households without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters. They carry their few possessions with them, sleeping in the streets, in doorways or on piers, or in another space, on a more or less random basis."

In 2009, at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Conference of European Statisticians recommended that homeless people are classified in two broad groups (noting that this would not provide a complete definition):
  • (a) Primary homelessness (or rooflessness). This category includes persons living in the streets without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters.
  • (b) Secondary homelessness. This category may include persons with no place of usual residence who move frequently between various types of accommodations (including dwellings, shelters, and institutions for the homeless or other living quarters). This category includes persons living in private dwellings but reporting ‘no usual address’ on their census form.

In 2005, 100 million people worldwide were estimated to be homeless, although some prefer the term 'houseless' or 'unsheltered'.

Psychological significance:

A home is generally a place that is close to the heart of the owner, and can become a prized possession. It has been argued that psychologically "The strongest sense of home commonly coincides geographically with a dwelling. Usually, the sense of home attenuates as one moves away from that point, but it does not do so in a fixed or regular way."

Since it can be said that humans are generally creatures of habit, the state of a person's home has been known to physiologically influence their behavior, emotions, and overall mental health. People may become homesick when they leave their home over an extended period of time.

Places like homes can trigger self-reflection, thoughts about who someone is or used to be or who they might become. These types of reflections also occur in places where there is a collective historical identity, such as Gettysburg or Ground Zero.

Popular sayings include:
  • "a man's home is his castle",
  • "there is no place like home",
  • "home sweet home",
  • "to be at home",
  • "home away from home",
  • "make yourself at home",
  • "you can never go home again",
  • "home is where the heart is"
  • and "home is where you hang your hat".

The word home can be used for various types of residential community institutions in which people can live, such as nursing, retirement homes for seniors, foster homes, etc. Short-term accommodation in a treatment facility for several weeks is unlikely to be considered 'home'.

Homes may be lost in ways ranging from:
  • the upheavals of natural disasters,
  • fraud/theft, 
  • arson,
  • or war-related destruction,
  • to the more common voluntary sale, loss for one or more occupants on relationship breakdown, expropriation by government or legislated cause,
  • repossession/foreclosure to pay secured debts, 
  • eviction by landlords,
  • disposal by time-limited means – lease,
  • or absolute gift.

Jurisdiction-dependent means of home loss include adverse possession, unpaid property taxation and corruption such as in circumstances of a failed state. 

Personal insolvency, development or sustaining of mental illness or severe physical incapacity without affordable domestic care commonly lead to a change of home. The underlying character of a home may be debased by structural defects, natural subsidence, neglect or soil contamination. 

Refugees are people who have fled their homes due to violence or persecution. They may seek temporary housing in a shelter or they may claim asylum in another country in an attempt to relocate permanently.

See also:







​Marriage in the United States including Weddings and Honeymoon Resorts Pictured: The Honeymoon Resort Madonna Inn (San Luis Obispo, CA) as:
Top: Exterior at Dusk;
Bottom the Honeymoon Suite
Click here for a List of the Top 10 Honeymoon Resorts in the United States ​according to TripAdvisor

Marriage in the United States is a legal, social, and religious institution. The legal recognition of marriage is regulated by individual states, each of which sets an "age of majority" at which individuals are free to enter into marriage solely on their own consent, as well as in what ages underage persons are able to marry with parental and/or judicial consent.

Marriage laws have changed considerably during United States history, including the removal of bans on interracial marriage and same-sex marriage.

In 2009, there were 2,077,000 marriages, according to the Census bureau. The median age for the first marriage has increased in recent years. The median age in the early 1970s was 23 for men and 21 for women, and it rose to 28 for men and 26 for women by 2009.

Marriages vary considerably in terms of religion, socioeconomic status, age, commitment, and so forth. Reasons for marrying may include a desire to have children, love, or economic security. Marriage has been a means in some instances to acquire citizenship by getting a green card; the Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments of 1986 established laws to punish such instances. In 2003, 184,741 immigrants were admitted as spouses of United States citizens.

Marriages can be terminated by annulment, divorce or death of a spouse. Divorce (known as dissolution of marriage in some states) laws vary by state, and address issues such as how the two spouses divide their property, how children will be cared for, and support obligations of one spouse toward the other.

In the last 50 years, divorce has become more prevalent. In 2005, it was estimated that 20% of marriages would end in divorce within five years. Divorce rates in 2005 were four times the divorce rates in 1955, and a quarter of children less than 16 years old are raised by a stepparent. Marriages that end in divorce last for a median of 8 years for both men and women.

As a rough rule, marriage has more legal ramifications than other types of bonds between consenting adults. A civil union is "a formal union between two people of the same or of different genders which results in, but falls short of, marriage-like rights and obligations," according to one view. Domestic partnerships are a version of civil unions. Registration and recognition are functions of states, localities, or employers; such unions may be available to couples of the same sex and, sometimes, opposite sex. Cohabitation is when two unmarried people who are in an intimate relationship live together.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Marriage in the United States: ___________________________________________________________________________

Weddings in the United States: there are many traditions and customs, most of which are based on a wide array of factors such as religion, culture, and social norms.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Weddings in the United States:

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Subsidized housing in the United StatesPictured below: "We list 49 Low Income Apartment complexes in or near Saint Louis, MO"
​Subsidized housing in the United States is administered by federal, state and local agencies to provide subsidized rental assistance for low-income households.

Public housing is priced much below the market rate, allowing people to live in more convenient locations rather than move away from the city in search of lower rents. In most federally-funded rental assistance programs, the tenants' monthly rent is set at 30% of their household income.

Now increasingly provided in a variety of settings and formats, originally public housing in the U.S. consisted primarily of one or more concentrated blocks of low-rise and/or high-rise apartment buildings. These complexes are operated by state and local housing authorities which are authorized and funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

More than 1.2 million households currently live in public housing of some type. Subsidized apartment buildings, often referred to as housing projects, have a complicated and often notorious history in the United States.

While the first decades of projects were built with higher construction standards and a broader range of incomes and same applicants, over time, public housing increasingly became the housing of last resort in many cities.

Several reasons have been cited for this negative trend including the failure of Congress to provide sufficient funding, a lowering of standards for occupancy, and mismanagement at the local level. Furthermore, housing projects have also been seen to greatly increase concentrated poverty in a community, leading to several negative externalities.

Crime, drug usage, and educational under-performance are all widely associated with housing projects, particularly in urban areas.

As a result of their various problems and diminished political support, many of the traditional low-income public housing properties constructed in the earlier years of the program have been demolished. Beginning primarily in the 1970s the federal government turned to other approaches including the Project-Based Section 8 program, Section 8 certificates, and the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

In the 1990s the federal government accelerated the transformation of traditional public housing through HUD's HOPE VI Program. Hope VI funds are used to tear down distressed public housing projects and replace them with mixed communities constructed in cooperation with private partners.

In 2012, Congress and HUD initiated a new program called the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. Under the demonstration program, eligible public housing properties are redeveloped in conjunction with private developers and investors.

​Social issues:

Concentrated poverty:

According to HUD's Residential Characteristic Report, the average annual income in 2013 for a resident of a public housing unit is $13,730. The same report classifies 68% of residents as Extremely Low Income, with the largest annual income bracket being $5,000 to $10,000, containing 32% of public housing residents.

​Trends showing an increase in geographic concentration of poverty became evident by the 1970s as upper and middle-class residents vacated property in U.S. cities.

Urban renewal programs led to widespread slum clearance, creating a need to house those displaced by the clearance (Massey and Kanaiaupuni 1993). However, those in city governments, political organizations, and suburban communities resisted the creation of public housing units in middle and working-class neighborhoods, leading to the construction of such units around ghetto neighborhoods which already exhibited signs of poverty.

Massey and Kanaiaupuni (1993) describe three sources of concentrated poverty in relation to public housing: income-requirements structurally creating areas of poverty, the reinforcement of patterns of poverty via the location of the public housing units, and the migration of impoverished individuals towards the public housing, although this effect is relatively small in comparison to the other sources.

A study of public housing in Columbus, Ohio, found that public housing has differing effects on the concentration of black poverty versus white poverty. Public housing's effect on concentrated poverty is doubled for blacks compared to whites. The study further found that public housing tends to concentrate those who struggle the most economically into a specific area, further raising poverty levels.

A different study, conducted by Freeman (2003) on a national level, cast doubt onto the theory that public housing units have an independent effect on the concentration of poverty. 

The study found that while out-migration of the non-poor and in-migration of the poor were associated with the creation of public housing, such associations disappeared with the introduction of statistical controls, suggesting that migration levels were caused by characteristics of the neighborhood itself rather than the public housing unit.

Concentrated poverty from public housing units has effects on the economy of the surrounding area, competing for space with middle class housing. Because of social pathologies incubated by public housing, Husock (2003) states that unit prices in surrounding buildings fall, reducing city revenue from property taxes and giving a disincentive to high-paying businesses to locate themselves in the area. He further argues that the pathologies caused by a concentration of poverty are likely to spread to surrounding neighborhoods, forcing local residents and businesses to relocate.

Freeman and Botein (2002) are more skeptical of a reduction of property values following the building of public housing units. In a meta-analysis of empirical studies, they expected to find that when public housing lacks obtrusive architecture and its residents are similar to those already in the neighborhood, property values are not likely to fluctuate.

However, a review of the literature yielded no definitive conclusions on the impact of public housing on property values, with only two studies lacking methodological flaws that had either mixed results or showed no impact.

Others are skeptical of concentrated poverty from public housing being the cause of social pathologies, arguing that such a characterization is a simplification of a much more complex set of social phenomena. According to Crump (2002), the term "concentrated poverty" was originally a spatial concept that was part of a much broader and complex sociological description of poverty, but the spatial component then became the overarching metaphor for concentrated poverty and the cause of social pathologies surrounding it.

​Instead of spatial concentration simply being a part of the broad description of social pathologies, Crump (2002) argues that the concept replaced the broad description, mistakenly narrowing the focus to the physical concentration of poverty.

​Racial segregation:

The HUD's 2013 The Location and Racial Composition of Public Housing in the United States report found that the racial distribution of residents within individual public housing units tends to be rather homogeneous, with African Americans and white residents stratified to separate neighborhoods.

One trend that is observed is that black neighborhoods tend to reflect a lower socioeconomic status and that white neighborhoods represent a more affluent demographic. More than 40% of public housing occupants live in predominantly black neighborhoods, according to the HUD report. Even though changes have been made to address unconstitutional housing segregation, stigma and prejudice around public housing projects are still prevalent.

​Segregation in public housing has roots in the early developments and activities of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), created by the Housing Act of 1934. The FHA institutionalized a practice by which it would seek to maintain racially homogenous neighborhoods through racially restrictive covenants - an explicitly discriminatory policy written into the deed of a house.

This practice was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1948 in Shelley v. Kraemer because it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. However, according to Gotham (2000), Section 235 of the Housing Act of 1968 encouraged white flight from the inner city, selling suburban properties to whites and inner-city properties to blacks, creating neighborhoods that were racially isolated from others.

White flight - white people moving out of neighborhoods that have become more racially or ethnoculturally heterogeneous - is an example of how stigma and judgement around public housing and affordable housing resulted in a significant change in the racial demographics of urban housing. White flight is a sociological response to perceptions that racially diverse neighborhoods will decrease their home value and increase crime rates.

McNulty and Holloway (2000) studied the intersection of public housing geography, race, and crime in order to determine if racial differences existed in crime rates when controlled for the proximity of public housing units.

The study found that "the race-crime relationship is geographically contingent, varying as a function of the distribution of public housing". This suggests that a focus on institutional causes of crime in relation to race is more appropriate than a focus on cultural differences between races being the cause of differing crime rates. Public housing units were often built in predominantly poor and black areas, reinforcing racial and economic differences between neighborhoods.

These social patterns are influenced by policies that constructed the narrative of racially segregated housing in the 20th Century. The rebellion in Detroit in 1967 was a symptom of racial tension that was in part due to unfair housing policies. In July 1967, President Lyndon Johnson issued a commission, led by Illinois Governor Otto Kerner to determine the causes of the riots.

The Kerner Commission clearly articulated that housing inequality was solely determined by explicitly discriminatory policies. It stated that "White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it".

The Kerner Commission blatantly condemned white institutions for creating unequal housing opportunities, specifically highlighting restrictive covenants as a cause of the American apartheid residential pattern in the city.

Martin Luther King Jr. made housing integration a key part of his civil rights campaign and one month after the publication of the Kerner Commission was published, King was assassinated. His murder instigated another wave of riots and in response, and no later than a week after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Congress passed the Fair Housing Act which prohibited discrimination in housing.

However, since the Fair Housing Act was passed, housing policies restricting minority housing to segregated neighborhoods are still heavily debated because of the vague language used in the Fair Housing Act.

In the 2015 Supreme Court case Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Justice Kennedy clarified that the Fair Housing Act was intended to promote equity, not just eliminate explicit acts of discrimination. Changes in both public policy and social narrative are equally necessary for establishing equitable housing opportunities for all Americans.

Health and safety:

Public housing units themselves offer very few amenities to occupants, providing the minimum necessary accommodations for living. The original wording of the 1937 Housing Act meant that units were built with minimal effort in order to give amenities only slightly better than slums.

The units had poor insulation, roofing, electricity, and plumbing, were generally very small, and built to use as few resources as possible. Turner et al. (2005) documents more physical deterioration, with backlogged repairs, vandalism, cockroaches, mold, and other problems creating a generally unsafe environment for occupants.

A Boston study showed that dampness and heating issues in public housing create concentrations of dust mites, mold, and fungi, which causes asthma at a rate much higher than the national average.

Other studies have been less negative in their assessments of living conditions in public housing units, showing only marginal differences caused by public housing units. The study by Fertig and Reingold (2007) concluded that of a large list of possible health effects, public housing units only seemed to affect domestic violence levels, with only a mixed effect, a mother's overall health status, and the probability of mothers becoming overweight.

Crime is also a major issue in public housing, with surveys showing high amounts of drug-related crime and shootings. Potential causes include inefficient management, which leads to problematic residents being able to stay in the unit, and inadequate policing and security.

Public housing units are far more susceptible to homicides than comparable neighborhoods, which Griffiths and Tita (2009) argue is an effect of social isolation within the units. These homicides tend to be localized within the public housing unit rather than around it.

Satisfaction with one's living environment is another variable affected by public housing. Residents of public housing units and voucher holders are more likely to express higher satisfaction with their current residency than low-income renters who are not receiving government assistance.

However, the study also concluded that residents of public housings units and voucher holders are more likely to express lower satisfaction with the neighborhood in which they live compared to low-income renters. This suggests that while the accommodations of public housing are better than comparable options, the surrounding neighborhoods are less desirable and have not been improved by government assistance.

Education:

Another concern about public housing is the availability of quality education for children living in public housing units in areas of concentrated poverty.

In a study of student achievement in New York City, Schwartz et al. (2010) found that those children living in public housing units did worse on standardized tests than others who go to the same or comparable schools. Furthermore, the study found that the resources of the schools serving different populations of the city were roughly the same.

Other studies refute this result, stating that public housing does not have a unique effect on student achievement. In a study for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Jacob (2003) found that children who had moved out of public housing due to demolition in Chicago fared no better and no worse in school and often continued to attend the same school as before demolition.

However, among older children (14 years or older), dropout rates increased by 4.4% after demolition, though this effect was not seen in younger children.

A separate study conducted by Newman and Harkness (2000) produced findings similar to Jacob (2003). It concluded that public housing did not have an independent effect on educational attainment levels. Instead, variation in educational attainment was associated with poor economic standing and characteristics of the family. Additionally, the study found very little difference between educational attainment in public versus subsidized private housing developments.

More positive educational outcomes have been recorded in other analyses. A study by Currie and Yelowitz (1999) found that families living in public housing were less likely to experience overcrowding in their units. Children living in public housing were 11% less likely to be held back a grade, suggesting that public housing may help low-income students. 

A 2011 report from the Center for Housing Policy argued for the benefits of stable and affordable housing in regard to education. Reasons for such educational benefits included less sporadic moving, community support, reduction in stress from overcrowding, less health hazards, provision of after-school programs, and reduction of homelessness.

Public perception:

Several negative stereotypes associated with public housing create difficulties in developing new units. Tighe (2010) reviewed a breadth of literature on perceptions of public housing and found five major public concerns: a lack of maintenance, expectation of crime, disapproval of housing as a handout, reduction of property values, and physical unattractiveness. While the reality of certain aspects may differ from the perceptions, such perceptions are strong enough to mount formidable opposition to public housing programs.

In a separate study, Freeman and Botein (2002) found four major areas of public concern related to public housing: reduction in property values, racial transition, concentrated poverty, and increased crime.

The study concludes that such concerns are only warranted in certain circumstances, and in varying degrees. While negative consequences have potential to occur with the building of public housing, there is an almost equal chance of the public housing having the opposite effect of creating positive impacts within the neighborhood.

​Alternative models:

Scattered-site housing:

"Scattered-site" or "scatter site" refers to a form of housing in which publicly funded, affordable, low-density units are scattered throughout diverse, middle-class neighborhoods. It can take the form of single units spread throughout the city or clusters of family units.

Scattered-site housing can also be managed by private not-for-profit organizations using a permanent, supportive housing model, where specific barriers to the housing of the low-income individual or family are addressed in regular visits with a case manager.

In New York City, The Scatter Site Apartment Program provides city contracts to not-for-profits from the HIV/AIDS Services Administration under the New York City Human Resources Administration. Also, Scattered Site is one of two models, the other being Congregate, which are utilized in the New York/New York housing agreements between New York City and New York State.

Background:

Scattered-site housing units were originally constructed as an alternative form of public housing designed to prevent the concentration of poverty associated with more traditional high-density units. The benchmark class-action case that led to the popularization of scattered-site models was Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority in 1969.

Much of motivation for this trial and lawsuit stemmed from concerns about residential segregation. It was believed that the placement of public housing facilities in primarily black neighborhoods perpetuated residential segregation. The lawsuit was finally resolved with a verdict mandating that the Chicago Housing Authority redistribute public housing into non-black neighborhoods.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard B. Austin mandated that three public housing units be built in white areas (less than 30% black) for every one unit built in black areas (more than 30% black).

These percentages have decreased since then and a wide array of programs have developed across the United States. While some programs have seen great successes, others have had difficulties in acquiring the land needed for construction and in maintaining new units.

Eligibility requirements, generally based on household income and size, are common in these programs. In Dakota County, Minnesota, for example, eligibility ranges from a maximum of $51,550 for two people to $85,050 for 8-10 people.

Eligibility requirements are designed to ensure that those most in need receive relief first and that concerns regarding housing discrimination do not extend into the public housing sector.

Public policy and implications:

Scattered-site housing programs are generally run by the city housing authorities or local governments. They are intended to increase the availability of affordable housing and improve the quality of low-income housing, while avoiding problems associated with concentrated subsidized housing. Many scattered-site units are built to be similar in appearance to other homes in the neighborhood to somewhat mask the financial stature of tenants and reduce the stigma associated with public housing.

An issue of great concern with regards to the implementation of scattered-site programs is where to construct these housing units and how to gain the support of the community.

Frequent concerns of community members include potential decreases in the retail price of their home, a decline in neighborhood safety due to elevated levels of crime. Thus, one of the major concerns with the relocation of scattered-site tenants into white, middle-class neighborhoods is that residents will move elsewhere – a phenomenon known as white flight.

To counter this phenomenon, some programs place tenants in private apartments that do not appear outwardly different. Despite these efforts, many members of middle-class, predominantly white neighborhoods have fought hard to keep public housing out of their communities.

American sociologist William Julius Wilson has proposed that concentrating low-income housing in impoverished areas can limit tenants' access to social opportunity. Thus, some scattered-site programs now relocate tenants in middle-class suburban neighborhoods, hoping that immersion within social networks of greater financial stability will increase their social opportunities. 

However, this strategy has not necessarily proved effective, especially with regards to boosting employment. When placed in neighborhoods of similar economic means, studies indicate that low-income residents use neighbors as social resources less often when living scattered throughout a neighborhood than when living in small clusters within a neighborhood.

There are also concerns associated with the financial burden that these programs have on the state. Scattered-site housing provides no better living conditions for its tenants than traditional concentrated housing if the units are not properly maintained. There are questions as to whether or not scattered-site public facilities are more expensive to manage because dispersal throughout the city makes maintenance more difficult.

Inclusionary Affordable Housing Program:

Inclusionary zoning ordinances require housing developers to reserve a percentage between 10-30% of housing units from new or rehabilitated projects to be rented or sold at a below market rate for low and moderate-income households.

According to United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), market-rate projects help to develop diverse communities, and ensure access to similar community services and amenities regardless of socioeconomic status. Most inclusionary zoning is enacted at the municipal or county level.

For example, San Francisco's Planning Code Section 415 (set forth the requirements and procedures for the Inclusionary Affordable Housing Program) "requires residential projects of 10 or more units to pay an Affordable Housing Fee, or to provide a percentage of units as affordable "on-site" within the project or "off-site" at another location in the City (Planning Code § 415, 419)."

Vouchers:
Main article: Section 8 (housing)

Housing vouchers, now one of the primary methods of subsidized housing delivery in the United States, became a robust program in the United States with passage of the 1974 Housing and Community Development Act. The program, colloquially known as Section 8, currently assists more than 1.4 million households.

Through the voucher system, direct-to-landlord payments assist eligible households in covering the gap between market rents and 30% of the household's income.

Hope VI:
Main article: HOPE VI

​The Hope VI program, created in 1992, was initiated in response to the physical deterioration of public housing units. The program rebuilds housing projects with an emphasis on mixed-income developments rather than projects which concentrate poorer households in one area.

​City programs:
Further information: List of public housing developments in the United States

Chicago:

The class-action lawsuit of Gautreaux v. CHA (1966) made Chicago the first city to mandate scattered-site housing as a way to desegregate neighborhoods. Dorothy Gautreaux argued that the Chicago Housing Authority discriminated based on race in its public housing policy.

The case went to Supreme Court as Hills v. Gautreaux and the 1976 verdict mandated scattered-site housing for residents currently living in public housing in impoverished neighborhoods. Since that time, scattered-site housing has become a major part of public housing in Chicago.

In 2000, the Chicago Housing Authority created the Plan for Transformation designed to not only improve the structural aspects of public housing but to also "build and strengthen communities by integrating public housing and its leaseholders into the larger social, economic, and physical fabric of Chicago". The goal is to have 25,000 new or remodeled units, and to have these units indistinguishable from surrounding housing.

While properly run scattered-site public housing units greatly improve the quality of life of the tenants, abandoned and decrepit units foster crime and perpetuate poverty. The Chicago Housing Authority began demolishing units deemed unsafe, but the Plan for Transformation set aside $77 million to clean up sites not demolished in this process.

Houston:

The Houston Housing Authority has created the Scattered Sites Homeownership Program to promote home ownership amongst those who would otherwise not be able to afford it. The program delineates strict requirements based on 80% of the Houston area's median income.

In 1987, the HHA received 336 properties throughout the city and it has worked to clean up these properties or sell them as low cost housing. As of 2009, the HHA had helped 172 families achieve home ownership through the scattered-site program and with the properties received in 1988.

Seattle:

The Seattle Housing Authority created its Scattered Site program in 1978. The program to date has a total of 800 units that range from duplex to multi-family. The program is currently in the process of "portfolio realignment," which entails successive upgrading of over 200 units and a continued effort to distribute public housing in various neighborhoods throughout the city. In choosing site locations, proximity to public facilities such as schools, parks, and transportation, is considered.

San Francisco:

In 1938, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors established the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA), making it today one of the oldest housing authorities in California.

The Housing Choice Voucher Program (formerly Section 8) was adopted in 1974 by the SFHA, and today it serves over 20,000 residents of San Francisco. Primary funding for the SFHA program comes from the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the rents paid by the housing choice voucher participants.

Participants pay approximately 30 percent of their earned income for rent.

See also:







Home Ownership in the United StatesPictured below: To The Economist: Planning, Not Home Ownership, Caused the Housing Crisis
​The home-ownership rate in the United States is percentage of homes that are owned by their occupants. In 2009, it remained similar to that in some other post-industrial nations with 67.4% of all occupied housing units being occupied by the unit's owner.

Home ownership rates vary depending on demographic characteristics of households such as ethnicity, race, type of household as well as location and type of settlement. In 2018, homeownership dropped to a lower rate than it was in 1994, with a rate of 64.2%.

Since 1960, the homeownership rate in the United States has remained relatively stable having decreased 1.0% since 1960 when 65.2% of American households owned their own home. Additionally, homeowner equity has fallen steadily since World War II and is now less than 50% of the value of homes on average.

Homeownership was most common in rural areas and suburbs with three quarters of suburban households being homeowners. Among the country's regions the Midwestern states had the highest homeownership rate with the Western states having the lowest.

Recent research has examined the decline in homeownership rates among households with "heads" aged 25 to 44 years, which fell substantially between 1980 and 2000 and recovered only partially during the 2001-05 housing boom. This research indicates that a trend toward marrying later and the increase in household earnings risk that occurred after 1980 account for a large share of the decline in young homeownership.

Homeowners in the United States also tend to have higher incomes and households residing in their own home were more likely to be families (as opposed to individuals) than were their tenant counterparts. Among racial demographics, European Americans had the country's highest homeownership rate, while those identifying as being African American had the lowest homeownership rate. One study shows that homeownership rates appear correlated with higher school attainment.

The name "homeownership rate" can be misleading. As defined by the US Census Bureau, it is the percentage of homes that are occupied by the owner. It is not the percentage of adults that own their own home. This latter percentage will be significantly lower than the homeownership rate because many households that are owner-occupied contain adult relatives (often young adults, descendants of the owner) who do not own their own home, and because single building multi-bedroom rental units can contain more than one adult, all of whom do not own a home.

The term "homeownership rate" can also be misleading because it includes households that owe on a mortgage and do not fully own the equity in their own that they are said to "own".

According to ATTOM Data Research, only "34 percent of all American homeowners have 100 percent equity in their properties — they’ve either paid off their entire mortgage debt or they never had a mortgage".

According to the Financial Post the cost of the average U.S. house in 2016 was US$187,000

​Measuring method:

In the US, the homeownership rate is created through the Housing Vacancy Survey by the US Census Bureau. It is created by dividing the owner occupied units by the total number of occupied units. This is an important point to understand changes in the homeownership rate over time. The bust of the housing bubble resulted in many houses becoming foreclosed.

However, the decrease in the homeownership rate from 3Q2007 to 4Q2007 was mostly a result of an increase in the renter's population and less due to a decrease in the homeowner population.

Government policy:

Homeownership has been promoted as government policy using several means involving mortgage debt and the government sponsored entities Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, which fund or guarantee $6.5 trillion of assets with the purpose of directly or indirectly promoting homeownership.

​Homeownership has been further promoted through tax policy which allows a tax deduction for mortgage interest payments on a primary residence. The Community Reinvestment Act also encourages homeownership for low-income earners. The promotion of homeownership by the government through encouraging mortgage borrowing and lending has given rise to debates regarding government policies and the subprime mortgage crisis.
Race

The homeownership rate, as well as its change over time, has varied significantly by race. While homeowners constitute the majority of white, Asian and Native American households, the homeownership rate for African Americans and those identifying as Hispanic or Latino has typically fallen short of the fifty percent threshold. Whites have had the highest homeownership rate, followed by Asians and Native Americans.
​
Hispanics had the lowest homeownership rate in the country in all years, except for 2002, up until 2005. For the last half of the decade of the 2000s the homeownership rate for Hispanics exceeded that of African Americans. Temporal fluctuations were slight for all races, with rates commonly not changing more than two percentage points per year.

The strongest increase in the percentage of homeowners in the first half of the decade of the 2000s was among non-white minorities. The homeownership rate for minorities approached the sixty percent mark in 2006, which was a significant change because less than half of all minority households owned homes as recently as 1994. The ownership rate for minorities increased by 25.6%, from 47.7% in 1993 to 59.9% in 2006. This rate fell after the 2006 peak, consistent with overall homeownership rates.

The increase among white Americans was less substantial. In 2005, 75.8% of white Americans owned their own homes, compared to 70% in 1993, and the rate fell during the last half of the decade of the 2000s, slightly more slowly than for the rest of the population.

​Thus one can conclude that despite a large remaining discrepancy between the home ownership rates among different racial groups, the gap had been closing up until the peak, with ownership rates increasing more substantially for minorities than for whites, but subsequently began slightly widening.

Household Ownership by Race:
Type of household:
​
There is a strong correlation between the type and age of a household's family structure and homeownership. As of 2006, married couple families, which also have the highest median income of any household type, were most likely to own a home.

Age played a significant role as well with homeownership increasing with the age of the householder until age 65, when a slight decrease becomes visible. While only 43% of households with a householder under the age of thirty-five owned a home, 81.6% of those with a householder between the ages of 55 and 64 did.

This means that households with a middle-aged householder were nearly twice as likely to own a home as those with a young householder. Overall married couple families with a householder age 70 to 74 had the highest homeownership rate with 93.3% being homeowners.

The lowest homeownership rate was recorded for single females under the age of twenty-five of whom only 13.6%, were homeowners. Yet, single females had an overall higher homeownership rate than single males and single mothers.

Income:
Main article: Income in the United States

​There are considerable correlations between income, homeownership rate and housing characteristics. As income is closely linked to social status, sociologist Leonard Beeghley has made the hypothesis that "the lower the social class, then the fewer amenities built into housing."

According to 2002, US Census Bureau data housing characteristics vary considerably with income. For homeowners with middle-range household incomes, ranging from $40,000 to $60,000, the median home value was $112,000, while the median size was 1,700 square feet (160 m2) and the median year of construction was 1970. A slight majority, 54% of homes occupied by owners in this group had two or more bathrooms.
​
Among homeowners with household incomes in the top 10%, those earning more than $120,000 a year, home values were considerably higher while houses were larger and newer.

The median value for homes in this demographic was $256,000 while median square footage was 2,500 and the median year of construction was 1977. The vast majority, 80%, had two or more bathrooms. Overall, houses of those with higher incomes were larger, newer, more expensive with more amenities.

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Federal Takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Pictured below: This Legislation Would Let Government Take Over U.S. Mortgage Market
​The federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was the placing into conservatorship of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) by the U.S. Treasury in September 2008. It was one of the financial events among many in the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis.

On September 6, 2008, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), James B. Lockhart III, announced his decision to place the two GSEs into a conservatorship run by the FHFA.

At the same press conference, United States Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, stated that placing the two GSEs into conservatorship was a decision he fully supported, and that he advised "that conservatorship was the only form in which I would commit taxpayer money to the GSEs." He further said that "I attribute the need for today's action primarily to the inherent conflict and flawed business model embedded in the GSE structure, and to the ongoing housing correction."

The same day, the Federal Reserve Bank chairman Ben Bernanke stated in support: "I strongly endorse both the decision by FHFA Director Lockhart to place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship and the actions taken by Treasury Secretary Paulson to ensure the financial soundness of those two companies." The following day, Herbert M. Allison was appointed chief executive of Fannie Mae. He came from TIAA-CREF.

​Background and financial market crisis:
Main article: Financial crisis of 2007–2010

The combined GSE losses of US$14.9 billion and market concerns about their ability to raise capital and debt threatened to disrupt the U.S. housing financial market.

The Treasury committed to invest as much as US$200 billion in preferred stock and extend credit through 2009 to keep the GSEs solvent and operating. The two GSEs had outstanding more than US$5 trillion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and debt; the debt portion alone was $1.6 trillion.

The conservatorship action has been described as "one of the most sweeping government interventions in private financial markets in decades", and one that "could turn into the biggest and costliest government bailout ever of private companies".

With a growing sense of crisis in U.S. financial markets, the conservatorship action and commitment by the U.S. government to backstop the two GSEs with up to US$200 billion in additional capital turned out to be the first significant event in a tumultuous month among U.S.-based investment banking, financial institutions and federal regulatory bodies.

By September 15, 2008, the 158-year-old Lehman Brothers holding company filed for bankruptcy with intent to liquidate its assets, leaving its financially sound subsidiaries operational and outside of the bankruptcy filing. The collapse was the largest investment bank failure since Drexel Burnham Lambert in 1990.

The 94-year-old Merrill Lynch accepted a purchase offer by Bank of America for approximately US$50 billion, a big drop from a year-earlier market valuation of about US$100 billion. A credit rating downgrade of the large insurer American International Group (AIG) led to a September 16, 2008 rescue agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank for a US$85 billion secured loan facility, in exchange for warrants for 79.9% of the equity of AIG.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:







Housing Styles in the United States Pictured below: ​What Style Is That House? Visual Guides to Domestic Architectural Designs (Click on the image below for further amplification)
List of house styles

This list of house styles lists styles of vernacular architecture used in the design of houses.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for a List of House Styles: ___________________________________________________________________________

An architectural style is characterized by the features that make a building or other structure notable and historically identifiable. A style may include such elements as form, method of construction, building materials, and regional character.

Most architecture can be classified as a chronology of styles which change over time reflecting changing fashions, beliefs and religions, or the emergence of new ideas, technology, or materials which make new styles possible.

Styles therefore emerge from the history of a society and are documented in the subject of architectural history. At any time several styles may be fashionable, and when a style changes it usually does so gradually, as architects learn and adapt to new ideas.

Styles often spread to other places, so that the style at its source continues to develop in new ways while other countries follow with their own twist.

A style may also spread through colonialism, either by foreign colonies learning from their home country, or by settlers moving to a new land.

After a style has gone out of fashion, there are often revivals and re-interpretations. For instance, classicism has been revived many times and found new life as neoclassicism. Each time it is revived, it is different.

Vernacular architecture works slightly differently and is listed separately. It is the native method of construction used by local people, usually using labour-intensive methods and local materials, and usually for small structures such as rural cottages. It varies from region to region even within a country, and takes little account of national styles or technology. As western society has developed, vernacular styles have mostly become outmoded by new technology and national building standards.

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Real Estate, including Real Estate Companies in the United StatesPictured below: 140+ Real Estate Tech Companies Transforming the $32 Trillion Housing Market
Click here for a List of Real Estate Companies in the United States.

Real estate is "property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more generally) buildings or housing in general.

Residential real estate:

Residential real estate may contain either a single family or multifamily structure that is available for occupation or for non-business purposes.

Residences can be classified by and how they are connected to neighbouring residences and land. Different types of housing tenure can be used for the same physical type. For example, connected residences might be owned by a single entity and leased out, or owned separately with an agreement covering the relationship between units and common areas and concerns.

​Major categories include:
  • Attached / multi-unit dwellings
    • Apartment (American English) or Flat (British English) – An individual unit in a multi-unit building. The boundaries of the apartment are generally defined by a perimeter of locked or lockable doors. Often seen in multi-story apartment buildings.
    • Multi-family house – Often seen in multi-story detached buildings, where each floor is a separate apartment or unit.
    • Terraced house (a. k. a. townhouse or rowhouse) – A number of single or multi-unit buildings in a continuous row with shared walls and no intervening space.
    • Condominium (American English) – A building or complex, similar to apartments, owned by individuals. Common grounds and common areas within the complex are owned and shared jointly. In North America, there are townhouse or rowhouse style condominiums as well. The British equivalent is a block of flats.
    • Cooperative (a. k. a. co-op) – A type of multiple ownership in which the residents of a multi-unit housing complex own shares in the cooperative corporation that owns the property, giving each resident the right to occupy a specific apartment or unit.
  • Semi-detached dwellings
    • Duplex – Two units with one shared wall.
  • Detached dwellings
  • Portable dwellings
    • Mobile homes or residential caravans – A full-time residence that can be (although might not in practice be) movable on wheels.
    • Houseboats – A floating home
    • Tents – Usually temporary, with roof and walls consisting only of fabric-like material.
The size of an apartment or house can be described in square feet or meters. In the United States, this includes the area of "living space", excluding the garage and other non-living spaces.

The "square meters" figure of a house in Europe may report the total area of the walls enclosing the home, thus including any attached garage and non-living spaces, which makes it important to inquire what kind of surface area definition has been used. It can be described more roughly by the number of rooms.

A studio apartment has a single bedroom with no living room (possibly a separate kitchen).

A one-bedroom apartment has a living or dining room separate from the bedroom.

​Two bedroom, three bedroom, and larger units are common. (A bedroom is a separate room intended for sleeping. It commonly contains a bed and, in newer dwelling units, a built-in closet for clothes storage.)

Other categories
The size of these is measured in Gaz (square yards), Quila, Marla, Beegha, and acre.

See List of house types for a complete listing of housing types and layouts, real estate trends for shifts in the market, and house or home for more general information.

See also







The Federal Housing Administration and its Financial Assistance to first time home ownershipPictured below: Four trends to watch at the Federal Housing Administration in 2019
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is a United States government agency founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created in part by the National Housing Act of 1934.

The FHA sets standards for construction and underwriting and insures loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building. The goals of this organization are to improve housing standards and conditions, to provide an adequate home financing system through insurance of mortgage loans, and to stabilize the mortgage market.

The FHA has faced criticism for practicing housing policies and red-lining at the expense of minority communities. The nature and impact of these policies is the subject of academic research.

The FHA is different from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which supervises government-sponsored enterprises.

Mortgage insurance:
​
Since 1934, the FHA and HUD have insured over 34 million home mortgages and 47,205 multifamily project mortgages. Currently, the FHA has 4.8 million insured single family mortgages and 13,000 insured multifamily projects in its portfolio.

Mortgage insurance protects lenders from mortgage defaulting. If a property purchaser borrows more than 80% of the property's value, the lender will likely require that the borrower purchase private mortgage insurance to cover the lender's risk. If the lender is FHA approved and the mortgage is within FHA limits, the FHA provides mortgage insurance that may be more affordable, especially for higher-risk borrowers

Lenders can typically obtain FHA mortgage insurance for 96.5% of the appraised value of the home or building. FHA loans are insured through a combination of an upfront mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) and annual mutual mortgage insurance (MMI) premiums.

The UFMIP is a lump sum ranging from 1 – 2.25% of loan value (depending on LTV and duration), paid by the borrower either in cash at closing or financed via the loan. MMI, although annual, is included in monthly mortgage payments and ranges from 0 – 1.35% of loan value (again, depending on LTV and duration).

If a borrower has poor to moderate credit history, MMI probably is much less expensive with an FHA insured loan than with a conventional loan regardless of LTV – sometimes as little as one-ninth as much depending on the borrower's credit score, LTV, loan size, and approval status.

Conventional mortgage insurance rates increase as credit scores decrease, whereas FHA mortgage insurance rates do not vary with credit score. Conventional mortgage premiums spike dramatically if the borrower's credit score is lower than 620.

Due to a sharply increased risk, most mortgage insurers will not write policies if the borrower's credit score is less than 575. When insurers do write policies for borrowers with lower credit scores, annual premiums may be as high as 5% of the loan amount.

FHA down payment:

A borrower's down payment may come from a number of sources. The 3.5% requirement can be satisfied with the borrower using their own cash or receiving a gift from a family member, their employer, labor union, or government entity.

Since 1998, non-profit organizations have been providing down payment gifts to borrowers who purchase homes where the seller has agreed to reimburse the non-profit organization and pay an additional processing fee.

In May 2006, the IRS determined that this is not "charitable activity" and has moved to revoke the non-profit status of organizations providing down payment assistance in this manner. The FHA has since stopped down payment assistance program through third-party nonprofit organizations. There is a bill currently in Congress that hopes to bring back down payment assistance programs through nonprofit organizations.

Canceling FHA mortgage insurance:

The FHA insurance payments include two parts: the upfront mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) and the annual premium remitted on a monthly basis—the mutual mortgage insurance (MMI). The UFMIP is an obligatory payment, which can either be made in cash at closing or financed into the loan, and thus paid over the life of the loan. It adds a certain amount to your monthly payments, but this is not PMI, nor is it the MMI.

When a homeowner purchases a home utilizing an FHA loan, they will pay monthly mortgage until the loan is paid down to 78% of the appraised value to minimum of five years. The MMI premiums come on top of that for all FHA Purchase Money Mortgages, Full-Qualifying Refinances, and Streamline Refinances.

When we talk about canceling the FHA insurance, we talk only about the MMI part of it. Unlike other forms of conventional financed mortgage insurance, the UFMIP on an FHA loan is prorated over a three-year period, meaning should the homeowner refinance or sell during the first three years of the loan, they are entitled to a partial refund of the UFMIP paid at loan inception.

If you have financed the UFMIP into the loan, you cannot cancel this part. The insurance premiums on a 30-year FHA loan which began before 6/3/2013 must have been paid for at least 5 years. The MMI premium gets terminated automatically once the unpaid principal balance, excluding the upfront premium, reaches 78% of the lower of the initial sales price or appraised value.

After 6/3/2013 for both 30 and 15-year loan term, the monthly insurance premium must be paid for 11 years if the initial loan to value was 90% or less. For loan to value greater than 90% the insurance premium must now be paid for the entire loan term.

A 15-year FHA mortgage annual insurance premium will be cancelled at 78% loan-to-value ratio regardless of how long the premiums have been paid. The FHA's 78% is based on the initial amortization schedule, and does not take any extra payments or new appraisals into account. For loans begun after 6/3/2013, the 15-year FHA insurance premium follows the same rules as 30-year term (see above.) This is the big difference between PMI and FHA insurance: the termination of FHA premiums can hardly be accelerated.

Borrowers who do make additional payments towards an FHA mortgage principal, may take the initiative through their lender to have the insurance terminated using the 78% rule, but not sooner than after 5 years of regular payments for 30-year loans. PMI termination, however, can be accelerated through extra payments. For the 78% rule the FHA uses the original value or purchase price, whichever is lower, they will not go off a new appraisal even if the value has increased.

Legacy:

The creation of the Federal Housing Administration successfully increased the size of the housing market. Home ownership increased from 40% in the 1930s to 61% and 65% in 1995.

Home ownership peaked at nearly 69% in 2005, near the peak of the US housing bubble. By 1938 only four years after the beginning of the Federal Housing Association, a house could be purchased for a down payment of only ten percent of the purchase price.

The remaining ninety percent was financed by 25-year, self-amortizing, FHA-insured mortgage loan. After World War II, the FHA helped finance homes for returning veterans and families of soldiers. It has helped with purchases of both single family and multifamily homes.

In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the FHA helped to spark the production of millions of units of privately owned apartments for elderly, handicapped, and lower-income Americans. When the soaring inflation and energy costs threatened the survival of thousands of private apartment buildings in the 1970s, FHA's emergency financing kept cash-strapped properties afloat.

In the 1980s, when the economy did not support an increase in homeowners, the FHA helped to steady falling prices, making it possible for potential homeowners to finance when private mortgage insurers pulled out of oil-producing states.

The greatest effects of the Federal Housing Administration can be seen within minority populations and in cities. Nearly half of FHA's metropolitan area business is located in central cities, a percentage that is much higher than that of conventional loans.

The FHA also lends to a higher percentage of African Americans and Hispanic Americans, as well as younger, credit-constrained borrowers, contributing to the increase in home ownership among these groups.

As the capital markets in the United States matured over several decades, the impact of the FHA decreased. In 2006 FHA made up less than 3% of all the loans originated in the United States. This had some in Congress questioning the government's role in the mortgage insurance business, with a vocal minority calling for the end of FHA. The subsequent deterioration in the credit markets, however, has somewhat muted criticism of the agency. Today, the FHA backs over 40 percent of all new mortgages.

Redlining:
Main article: Redlining

In the 1930s, the Federal Housing Authority established mortgage underwriting standards that significantly discriminated against minority neighborhoods. Between 1934 and 1968, African Americans received only 2 percent of all federally insured home loans. As the significance of subsidized mortgage insurance on the housing market grew, home values in inner-city minority neighborhoods plummeted. Also, the approval rates for minorities were equally low.

After 1935, the FHA established guidelines to steer private mortgage investors away from minority areas. This practice, known as redlining, was made illegal by the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Redlining has had long-lasting effects on minority communities.

Operations:

The Federal Housing Administration is one of the few government agencies that is completely self-funded.

See also:







United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)Pictured below: ​HUD provides a variety of disaster resources listed below. We also partner with Federal and state agencies to help implement disaster redcovery assistance. Under the National Response Framework the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) offer initial recovery assistance.
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government. Although its beginnings were in the House and Home Financing Agency, it was founded as a Cabinet department in 1965, as part of the "Great Society" program of President Lyndon Johnson, to develop and execute policies on housing and metropolises.

History:

The department was established on September 9, 1965, when Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act into law. It stipulated that the department was to be created no later than November 8, sixty days following the date of enactment.

The actual implementation was postponed until January 14, 1966, following the completion of a special study group report on the federal role in solving urban problems.
HUD is administered by the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Its headquarters is located in the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building.

Some important milestones for HUD's development include:
  • June 27, 1934 – The National Housing Act creates the Federal Housing Administration, which helps provide mortgage insurance on loans made by FHA-approved lenders.
  • September 1, 1937 – Housing Act of 1937 creates the United States Housing Authority, which helps enact slum-clearance projects and construction of low-rent housing.
  • February 3, 1938 – The National Housing Act Amendments of 1938 is signed into law. The law creates the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), which provides a secondary market to the Federal Housing Administration.
  • February 24, 1942 – Executive Order 9070, Establishing the National Housing Agency. The Federal Housing Administration, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, The Home Owners' Loan Corporation, The United States Housing Authority, defense housing under the Federal Works Agency, the War Department, the Navy Department, the Farm Security Administration, the Defense Homes Corporation, the Federal Loan Administration, and the Division of Defense Housing Coordination were consolidated. The National Housing Agency would be made up of three units, each with its own commissioner. The units were the Federal Housing Administration, the Federal Home Loan Bank Administration, and the United States Housing Authority.
  • July 27, 1947 – The Housing and Home Finance Agency is established through Reorganization Plan Number 3.
  • July 15, 1949 – The Housing Act of 1949 is enacted to help eradicate slums and promote community development and redevelopment programs.
  • August 2, 1954 – The Housing Act of 1954 establishes comprehensive planning assistance.
  • September 23, 1959 – The Housing Act of 1959 allows funds for elderly housing.
  • September 2, 1964 – The Housing Act of 1964 allows rehabilitation loans for homeowners.
  • August 10, 1965 – The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 instituted several major expansions in federal housing programs.
  • September 1965 – HUD is created as a cabinet-level agency by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act.
  • April 1968 – The Fair Housing Act is passed to ban discrimination in housing.
  • During 1968 – The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 establishes the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae).
  • August 1969 – The Brooke Amendment establishes that low income families only pay no more than 25 percent of their income for rent.
  • August 1974 – Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 allows community development block grants and help for urban homesteading.
  • October 1977 – The Housing and Community Act of 1977 sets up Urban Development Grants and continues elderly and handicapped assistance.
  • July 1987 – The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act gives help to communities to deal with homelessness. It includes the creation of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness of which HUD is a member.
  • February 1988 – The Housing and Community Development Act provides for the sale of public housing to resident management corporations.
  • October 1992 – The HOPE VI program starts to revitalize public housing and how it works.
  • October 1992 – The Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 codifies within its language the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 that creates the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, and mandates HUD to set goals for lower income and underserved housing areas for the GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
  • 1992 – Federal Housing Enterprises' Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 creates HUD Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight to provide public oversight of FNMA and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac).
  • 1993 – Henry G. Cisneros is named Secretary of HUD by President William J. Clinton, January 22. Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community program becomes law as part of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993.
  • 1995 – "Blueprint for Reinvention of HUD" proposes sweeping changes in public housing reform and FHA, consolidation of other programs into three block grants.
  • 1996 – Homeownership totals 66.3 million American households, the largest number ever.
  • 1997 – Andrew M. Cuomo is named by President Clinton to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the first appointment ever from within the Department.
  • 1998 – HUD opens Enforcement Center to take action against HUD-assisted multifamily property owners and other HUD fund recipients who violate laws and regulations. Congress approves Public Housing reforms to reduce segregation by race and income, encourage and reward work, bring more working families into public housing, and increase the availability of subsidized housing for very poor families.
  • 2000 – America's homeownership rate reaches a new record-high of 67.7 percent in the third quarter of 2000. A total of 71.6 million American families own their homes - more than at any time in American history.
  • 2001 – Mel Martinez, named by President George W. Bush to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 23, 2001.
  • 2004 – Alphonso Jackson, named by President George W. Bush to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 31, 2004. Mr. Jackson is the first Deputy Secretary to subsequently be named Secretary.
  • 2007 – HUD initiates program providing seller concessions to buyers of HUD homes, allowing them to use a down payment of $100.
  • 2013 – HUD announces it will "close its offices on May 24 and possibly six other days" as a result of the budget sequestration in 2013.

Agencies:

Agencies include:
Offices:
  • Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (HUD)
  • Departmental Enforcement Center
  • Office of Community Planning and Development
  • Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations
  • Office of Equal Employment Opportunity
  • Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
  • Office of Field Policy and Management
  • Office of the General Counsel
  • Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control
  • Office of Hearings and Appeals
  • Office of Labor Relations
  • Office of Policy Development and Research
  • Office of Public Affairs
  • Office of Public and Indian Housing
  • Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
  • Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities

Corporation:
Organizational structure:

Major programs:

The major program offices are:
Office of Inspector General:

The United States Congress enacted the Inspector General Act of 1978 to ensure integrity and efficiency in government. The Inspector General is appointed by the President and subject to Senate confirmation.

The Inspector General is responsible for conducting and supervising audits, investigations, and inspections relating to the programs and operations of HUD. The OIG is to examine, evaluate and, where necessary, critique these operations and activities, recommending ways for the Department to carry out its responsibilities in the most effective, efficient, and economical manner possible.

The mission of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to:
  • Promote the integrity, efficiency and effectiveness of HUD programs and operations to assist the Department in meeting its mission
  • Detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse
  • Seek administrative sanctions, civil recoveries and/ or criminal prosecution of those responsible for waste, fraud and abuse in HUD programs and operations

The OIG accomplishes its mission by conducting investigations pertinent to its activities; by keeping Congress, the Secretary, and the public fully informed of its activities, and by working with staff (in this case of HUD) in achieving success of its objectives and goals. 

Budget and staffing:

The Department of Housing and Urban Development was authorized a budget for Fiscal Year 2015 of $48.3 billion. The budget authorization is broken down as follows:


Operations:

​The 203(k) program offers low down payment loans to primary resident owner occupants or nonprofit groups to buy and renovate a house.

One of the most successful HUD programs over the years has been the Multifamily Housing Service Coordinator Program. Each year since 1992, HUD has included in its Notice of Fund Availability (NOFA), a specific allocation of dollars to allow sponsors and owners of HUD multifamily housing for the elderly the opportunity to hire a Service Coordinator.

The Service Coordinator provides case management and coordinative services to elderly residents, particularly to those who are "frail" and "at-risk" allowing them to remain in their current residence.

As a result, thousands of senior citizens throughout the United States have been given the opportunity to continue to live independently instead of in an institutional facility such as a nursing home. Professional organizations such as the American Association of Service Coordinators provide support to HUD Service Coordinator through education, training, networking and advocacy.

HUD has experimented with Enterprise Zones granting economic incentives to economically depressed urban areas, but this function has largely been taken over by states.

Due to HUD's lending practices, it occasionally takes possession of a home when a lender it insures forecloses. Such properties are then generally sold off to the highest bidder through the HUD auction process. Buyers of HUD homes as their primary residences who make a full-price offer to HUD using FHA-insured mortgage financing receive seller concessions from HUD enabling them to use only a $100 down payment.

Criticisms:
See also: Criticism of the United States government § Criticism of agencies

A scandal arose in the 1990s when at least 700 houses were sold for profit by real estate speculators taking the loans; at least 19 were arrested. The scandal devastated the Brooklyn and Harlem housing market and with $70 million in HUD loans going into default.

Critics said that HUD's lax oversight of their program allowed the fraud to occur. and in 1997, the HUD Inspector General issued a report saying: "The program design encourages risky property deals, land sale and refinance schemes, overstated property appraisals, and phony or excessive fees."

In June 1993, HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros admitted that "HUD has in many cases exacerbated the declining quality of life in America." In 1996, Vice President Al Gore, referring to public housing projects, declared that, "These crime-infested monuments to a failed policy are killing the neighborhoods around them".

HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing Roberta Achtenberg has been quoted as saying "...HUD walks a tightrope between free speech and fair housing. We are ever mindful of the need to maintain the proper balance between these rights." Libertarian critic James Bovard commented that, "The more aggressive HUD becomes, the fewer free speech rights Americans have. Many words and phrases are now effectively forbidden in real estate ads. ... Apparently, there are two separate versions of the Bill of Rights -- one for private citizens and the other for federal bureaucrats and politicians".

In 2006, The Village Voice called HUD "New York City's worst landlord" and "the #1 worst in the United States" based upon decrepit conditions of buildings and questionable eviction practices.

In September 2010, HUD started auctioning off delinquent home mortgage loans, defined as at least 90 days past due, to the highest bidder. It sold 2,000 loans in six national auctions.

In 2012, this sale was massively increased under a "Distressed Asset Stabilization Program" (DASP), and the 100,000 loans sold as of 2014 have netted 8.8 billion for the FHA, rebuilding cash reserves that had been depleted by loan defaults. The second stated and eponymous objective is to stabilize communities, by requiring purchasers to service the loans in a manner that stabilizes the surrounding communities by getting the loans to re-perform, renting the home to the borrower, gifting the property to a land bank or paying off the loans in full.

An audit published August 2014 found "only about 11 percent of the loans sold through DASP [were] considered 're-performing'". "Rather than defaulting— [FHA] keeps many of the properties they’re tied to from going through the typical foreclosure process. As a result, the FHA might actually be diverting housing stock from first-time homebuyers, the very group it was formed to serve..."

Related legislation: See also:







Defining Residential Areas of the United States, including Residential Zoning in the United States Pictured below: Every state has a great suburb. Here are the 50 of the best from across the United States (USA Today)
A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residential, or mobile homes. 

Zoning (see below) for residential use may permit some services or work opportunities or may totally exclude business and industry. It may permit high density land use or only permit low density uses. Residential zoning usually includes a smaller FAR (floor area ratio) than business, commercial or industrial/manufacturing zoning. The area may be large or small.

Overview:

In certain residential areas, largely rural, large tracts of land may have no services whatever, thus residents seeking services must use a motor vehicle or other transport, so the need for transport has resulted in land development following existing or planned transport infrastructure such as rail and road.

Development patterns may be regulated by restrictive covenants contained in the deeds to the properties in the development, and may also result from or be reinforced by zoning.

Restrictive covenants are not easily changed when the agreement of all property owners (many of whom may not live in the area) is required. The area so restricted may be large or small.

Residential areas may be sub-categorized in the concentric zone model and other schemes of urban geography.

Residential development:
​
Residential development is real estate development for residential purposes. Some such developments are called a subdivision, when the land is divided into lots with houses constructed on each lot. Such developments became common during the late nineteenth century, particularly in the form of streetcar suburbs.

In previous centuries, residential development was mainly of two kinds. Rich people bought a townlot, hired an architect and/or contractor, and built a bespoke / customized house or mansion for their family.

Poor urban people lived in shantytowns or in tenements built for rental. Single-family houses were seldom built on speculation, that is for future sale to residents not yet identified.

When cities and the middle class expanded greatly and mortgage loans became commonplace, a method that had been rare became commonplace to serve the expanding demand for home ownership.

​Post–World War II economic expansion in major cities of the United States, especially New York City and Los Angeles produced a demand for thousands of new homes, which was largely met by speculative building. Its large-scale practitioners disliked the term "property speculator" and coined the new name "residential development" for their activity.

Entire farms and ranches were subdivided and developed, often with one individual or company controlling all aspects of entitlement (permits), land development (streets and grading), infrastructure (utilities and sewage disposal), and housing.

Communities like Levittown, Long Island or Lakewood south of Los Angeles saw new homes sold at unprecedented rates—more than one a day. Many techniques which had made the automobile affordable made housing affordable: standardization of design and small, repetitive assembly tasks, advertising, and a smooth flow of capital. 

Mass production resulted in a similar uniformity of product, and a more comfortable lifestyle than cramped apartments in the cities. With the advent of government-backed mortgages, it could actually be cheaper to own a house in a new residential development than to rent.

As with other products, continual refinements appeared. Curving streets, greenbelt parks, neighborhood pools, and community entry monumentation appeared. Diverse floor plans with differing room counts, and multiple elevations (different exterior "looks" for the same plan) appeared. Developers remained competitive with each other on everything, including location, community amenities, kitchen appliance packages, and price.

Today, a typical residential development in the United States might include traffic calming features, such as a slowly winding street, dead-end road, or looped road lined with homes.

Suburban developments help form the stereotypical image of a "suburban America," and are generally associated with the American middle-class. Most offer homes in a narrow range of age, price, size and features, thus potential residents having different needs, wishes or resources must look elsewhere. Some residential developments are gated communities.

Problems with residential developments:

Criticisms of residential developments may include:
  • They do not mesh well with the greater community. Some are isolated, with only one entrance, or otherwise connected with the rest of the community in few ways.
  • Being commuter towns, they serve no more purpose for the greater community than other specialized settlements do, and thus require residents to go to the greater community for commercial or other purposes. Whereas mixed-use developments provide for commerce and other activities, thus residents need not go as often to the greater community.

See also:
​
The dictionary definition of residential at Wiktionary ___________________________________________________________________________

​Zoning in the United States:

Zoning in the United States includes various land use laws falling under the police power rights of state governments and local governments to exercise authority over privately owned real property.

The earliest zoning laws originated with the Los Angeles zoning ordinances of 1908 and the New York City Zoning resolution of 1916. Starting in the early 1920s, the United States Commerce Department drafted model zoning and planning ordinances in the 1920s to facilitate states in drafting enabling laws.

Also in the early 1920s, a lawsuit challenged a local zoning ordinance in a suburb of Cleveland, which was eventually reviewed by the United States Supreme Court (Euclid v. Ambler Realty).

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Zoning in the United States:







House as a Single-family Detached Home Pictured below: Various examples of houses throughout history
​A house is a building that functions as a home. They can range from simple dwellings such as rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes and the improvised shacks in shantytowns to complex, fixed structures of wood, masonry, concrete or other materials containing plumbing, ventilation, and electrical systems.

Houses use a range of different roofing systems to keep precipitation such as rain from getting into the dwelling space. Houses may have doors or locks to secure the dwelling space and protect its inhabitants and contents from burglars or other trespassers.

Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A house may have a separate dining room, or the eating area may be integrated into another room.

Some large houses in North America have a recreation room. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as chickens or larger livestock (like cattle) may share part of the house with humans.

The social unit that lives in a house is known as a household. Most commonly, a household is a family unit of some kind, although households may also be other social groups, such as roommates or, in a rooming house, unconnected individuals.

Some houses only have a dwelling space for one family or similar-sized group; larger houses called townhouses or row houses may contain numerous family dwellings in the same structure.

A house may be accompanied by outbuildings, such as a garage for vehicles or a shed for gardening equipment and tools. A house may have a backyard or front yard, which serve as additional areas where inhabitants can relax or eat.

The English word house derives directly from the Old English hus meaning "dwelling, shelter, home, house," which in turn derives from Proto-Germanic husan (reconstructed by etymological analysis) which is of unknown origin.

The house itself gave rise to the letter 'B' through an early Proto-Semitic hieroglyphic symbol depicting a house. The symbol was called "bayt", "bet" or "beth" in various related languages, and became beta, the Greek letter, before it was used by the Romans. Beit in Arabic means house, while in Maltese bejt refers to the roof of the house

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about a House: ___________________________________________________________________________

A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwelling (Next topic).

The definition of this type of house may vary between legal jurisdictions or statistical agencies.

A single-family (home, house, or dwelling) means that the building is a structure maintained and used as a single dwelling unit. Even though a dwelling unit shares one or more walls with another dwelling unit, it is a single family residence if it has direct access to a street or thoroughfare and does not share heating facilities, hot water equipment, nor any other essential facility or service with any other dwelling unit.

In some jurisdictions, allowances are made for basement suites or mother-in-law suites without changing the description from "single family". It does exclude, however, any short-term accommodation (hotel, motels, inns), large-scale rental accommodation (rooming or boarding houses, apartments), or condominiums.

Most single-family homes are built on lots larger than the structure itself, adding an area surrounding the house, which is commonly called a yard in North American English or a garden in British English. 

Garages can also be found on most lots. Houses with an attached front entry garage that is closer to the street than any other part of the house is often derisively called a snout house.

Regional terminology:
​
​Terms corresponding to a single-family detached home in common use are single-family home (in the US and Canada), single-detached dwelling (in Canada), detached house (in the United Kingdom and Canada), and separate house (in New Zealand). In the United Kingdom, the term single-family home is almost unknown, except through Internet exposure to US media.

Whereas in the US, housing is commonly divided into "single-family homes", "multi-family dwellings", "condo/townhouse", etc., the primary division of residential property in British terminology is between "houses" (including "detached", "semi-detached", and "terraced" houses and bungalows) and "flats" (i.e., "apartments" or "condominiums" in American English).

History and distribution:

In pre-industrial societies, most people lived in multi-family dwellings for most of their lives. A child lived with their parents from birth until marriage, and then generally moved in with the parents of the man (patrilocal) or the woman (matrilocal), so that the grandparents could help raise the young children and so the middle generation could care for their aging parents.

This type of arrangement also saved some of the effort and materials used for construction and, in colder climates, heating. If people had to move to a new place or were wealthy enough, they could build or buy a home for their own family, but this was not the norm.

The idea of a nuclear family living separately from their relatives as the norm is a relatively recent development related to rising living standards in North America and Europe during the early modern and modern eras. In the New World, where land was plentiful, settlement patterns were quite different from the close-knit villages of Europe, meaning many more people lived in large farms separated from their neighbors.

This has produced a cultural preference in settler societies for privacy and space. A countervailing trend has been industrialization and urbanization, which has seen more and more people around the world move into multi-story apartment blocks. In the New World, this type of densification was halted and reversed following the Second World War when increased automobile ownership and cheaper building and heating costs produced suburbanization instead.

Single-family homes are now common in rural and suburban and even some urban areas across the New World and Europe, as well as wealthier enclaves within the Third World. They are most common in low-density, high-income regions. For example, in Canada, according to the 2006 census, 55.3% of the population lived in single-detached houses, but this varied substantially by region.

In the ville (city) of Montreal, Quebec, Canada's second-most populous municipality, only 7.5% of the population lived in single-detached homes, while in the city of Calgary, the third-most populous, 57.8% did.[3] Note that this includes the "city limits" populations only, not the wider region.

The term "single-family detached" describes how a house is built and who lives in it. It does not indicate size, shape, or location. Because they are not often surrounded by other buildings, the potential size of a single-family house is limited only by the budget of the builder and local law. They can range from a tiny country cottage or cabin or a small suburban prefabricated home to a large mansion, aristocratic estate or stately home.

Sizes in real estate advertising are given in area (square feet or square metres), or by the number of bedrooms or bathrooms/toilets.

The choice in materials used or the shape chosen will depend on what is common to the vernacular architecture of that region, or the lasting trends in professionally designed tract housing. A traditional log and plaster hut, a timber frame and drywall North American starter home, or a European-style concrete-and-slate house are all varieties of single-family detached housing.

Pros and cons:
​
Single-detached homes have both advantages and disadvantages.

The entire space around the building is private to the owner and family, and in most cases (depending on national/federal, state/provincial, and local laws), one can add onto the existing house if more room is needed. They also typically have no property management fees, such as the ones associated with condominia and townhomes. These are often considered advantages.

Since single-detached homes are typically built in places where land is more plentiful, there is a distinct cost advantage per square foot (although this varies based on many factors, such as housing stock and land availability). This is mostly due to the cheaper cost of the plot of land that the house is built on.

To many owners, single-detached homes also offer a degree of privacy not seen in denser housing developments. The walls, floors, and ceilings aren't shared with others, so sounds between dwellings aren't as easily transferred. In addition, a level of freedom not seen in denser developments is afforded to owners of houses. Since the house is usually owned and not attached to other dwellings, the owner is free to do nearly anything with the interior, from repainting to remodeling, without disturbing others.

Another advantage is that single-family houses typically have private yards, which owners can use and landscape as desired (and within the confines of any homeowners' associations).

Families with children also may find this advantageous, since neighboring kids can play privately together (as opposed to in public parks, whose upkeep, or lack of, is determined by a local governing body).

However, all maintenance and repair costs — interior, exterior, and everything in between — are at the owner's expense. Amenities such as pools and playgrounds are usually absent, unless built at private expense, or if a municipal playground is available. Landscaping and lawn upkeep costs are at the owner's expense.

From an environmental point of view, single-family houses are likely to require much more energy to heat in cold weather than buildings with shared walls, because of their very high surface-area-to-volume ratio.

In wealthier countries, people who live in single-family houses are much more likely to own and use a private automobile rather than walking, biking, or using public transit to commute.

The low density of housing leads to less frequent bus service and longer distances to commute, thus leading to increased car use. This makes single-family houses part of a much more energy- and carbon-intensive lifestyle. The low-density nature of this type of housing requires using more land which could otherwise be used for agriculture or as natural habitat.

Inner city neighborhoods of larger cities tend to be densely populated and without significant room for houses devoted to just a single family. By contrast, the outer districts of larger cities are usually transitional areas with equal shares of smaller apartment buildings and single-detached homes.

​Culturally, single-family houses are associated with suburbanization in many parts of the world. Owning a home with a yard and a "white picket fence" is seen as a key component of the "American dream" (which also exists with variations in other parts of the world). Single-family homes can also be associated with gated communities, particularly in developing countries (e.g., Alphaville, São Paulo).

Separating types of homes:

For a more comprehensive list, see List of house types. House types include:
  • Cottage, a small house. In the US, a cottage typically has four main rooms, two either side of a central corridor. It is common to find a lean-to added to the back of the cottage which may accommodate the kitchen, laundry and bathroom. In Australia, it is common for a cottage to have a verandah across its front. In the UK and Ireland, any small, old (especially pre-World War I) house in a rural or formerly rural location whether with one, two or (rarely) three storeys is a cottage.
  • Bungalow, in American English this term describes a medium- to large-sized freestanding house on a generous block in the suburbs, with generally less formal floor plan than a villa. Some rooms in a bungalow typically have doors which link them together. Bungalows may feature a flat roof. In British English, it refers to any single-storey house (much rarer in the UK than the US).
  • Villa, a term originating from Roman times, when it was used to refer to a large house which one might retreat to in the country. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, villa suggested a freestanding comfortable-sized house, on a large block, generally found in the suburbs. In Victorian terraced housing, a villa was a house larger than the average byelaw terraced house, often having double street frontage.
  • Mansion, a very large, luxurious house, typically associated with exceptional wealth or aristocracy, usually of more than one story, on a very large block of land or estate.
    Mansions usually will have many more rooms and bedrooms than a typical single-family home, including specialty rooms, such as a library, study, conservatory, theater, greenhouse, infinity pool, bowling alley, or server room. Many mansions are too large to be maintained solely by the owner, and as such there will be maintenance staff. This staff may also live on site in 'servant quarters'.

See also:






​
Multi-Family Residences​​Pictured below: Mirabella at South Waterfront (Portland, Oregon): 10 Multifamily Residences Taking Advantage of Waterfront Location
Multi-family residential (also known as multi-dwelling unit or MDU) is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex.

Units can be next to each other (side-by-side units), or stacked on top of each other (top and bottom units). A common form is an apartment building. Sometimes units in a multifamily residential building are condominiums, where typically the units are owned individually rather than leased from a single apartment building owner.

Many intentional communities incorporate multifamily residences, such as in cohousing projects.

Examples:
  • Apartment building or block of flats - a building with multiple apartments. There can be multiple apartments on each floor and there are often multiple floors. Apartment buildings can range in many sizes, some with only a few apartments, other with hundreds of apartments on many floors, or any size in between. There are often inside hallways and inside entrances to each apartment, but outside entrances to each apartment are also possible. An apartment building can be owned by one party and each of the apartments rented to tenants or each of the apartments can be owned as a condominium by separate parties.
  • Mixed use building - a building with space for both commercial, business, or office use, and space for residential use. Possible arrangements include the commercial/business use on the first or first couple floors and one or more apartments or residential spaces on the upper floors. Another possibility is to have the commercial/business area up front and the residential area in the back. Some or maybe all of the space may be used by the owner or some or all the business and residential units may be leased by the owner. Condominium ownership is also possible.
  • Apartment community - a collection of apartment buildings on adjoining pieces of land, generally owned by one entity. The buildings often share common grounds and amenities, such as pools, parking areas, and a community clubhouse, used as leasing offices for the community.
  • Brownstone: a New York City term for a rowhouse: see rowhouse.
  • Bedsit: a British expression (short for bed-sitting room) for a single-roomed dwelling in a sub-divided larger house. The standard type contains a kitchenette or basic cooking facilities in a combined bedroom/living area, with a separate bathroom and lavatory shared between a number of rooms. Once common in older Victorian properties in British cities, they are less frequently found since the 1980s as a result of tenancy reforms, property prices and renovation grants that favour the refurbishment of such properties into self-contained flats for leasehold sale.
  • Close: Term used in Glasgow for high density slum housing built 1800-1870. Tenements usually 3 or 4 stories, terraced, back-to-back, around a short cul-de-sac.
  • Cluster house: an older form of the Q-type house (see below)
  • Condominium: a form of ownership with individual apartments for everyone, and co-ownership (by percentages) of all of the common areas, such as corridors, hallways, stairways, lobbies, recreation rooms, porches, rooftops, and any outdoor areas of the grounds of the buildings. Townhouses and apartments which are owned in the condominium form of ownership are often referred to as "condominiums" or "condos."
  • Court: high density slum housing built in the UK, 1800-1870. Two or more stories, terraced, back-to-back, around a short alley at right angles to the main street. Once common in cities like Liverpool and Leeds.
  • Deck access: a block of "flats" which are accessed from a walkway that is open to the elements.
  • Dingbat (apartment building style)
  • Duplex (American English), Two-flat (British English) - a building commonly built on an edgeyard lot, consisting either of two residences, one to a story, or a pair of semi-detached dwellings of one or several stories each. Common spaces shared by both residences may include a basement, foyer, stairwell, or porch.
  • Flat: In Great Britain and parts of Ireland, this means exactly the same as an "apartment". In and around San Francisco, CA, this term means an apartment that takes up an entire floor of a large house, usually one that has been converted from an older Victorian house. In Ireland, the use of the term "flat" generally implies an apartment which is smaller or of lesser value, while the term apartment is used for larger privately owned dwellings.
  • 2-Flat, 3-Flat, and 4-Flat houses: houses or buildings with 2, 3, or 4 flats, respectively, especially when each of the flats takes up one entire floor of the house. There is a common stairway in the front and often in the back providing access to all the flats. 2-Flats and sometimes 3-flats are common in certain older neighborhoods.
  • Four Plus One: an apartment building consisting of four stories above a parking lot. The four floors containing the apartment units are of wood-frame and masonry construction. It was particularly popular in Chicago during the 1960s and 1970s, especially on the city's north side.
  • Garage-apartment: an apartment over a garage; if the garage is attached, the apartment will have a separate entrance from the main house.
  • Garlow: a portmanteau word "garage" + "bungalow"; similar to a garage-apartment, but with the apartment and garage at the same level.
  • Garden apartment: a building style usually characterized by two story, semi-detached buildings, each floor being a separate apartment.
  • Garden flat: a flat which is at garden (ground) level in a multilevel house or apartment building, especially in the case of Georgian and Victorian terraced housing which has been sub-divided into separate dwellings.
  • Housing cooperative (or Co-op): a form of ownership in which a non-profit corporation owns the entire apartment building or development and residents own shares in the corporation that correspond to their apartment and a percentage of common areas. In Australia this corresponds with a "company title" apartment.
  • Loft or warehouse conversion can be an apartment building wherein part of the unit, usually consisting of the bedroom(s) and/or a second bedroom level bath is sub-divided vertically within the structurally tall bay between the structural floors of a former factory or warehouse building. The lofts created in such are locally supported by columns and bearing walls and not part of the overall original load bearing structure.
  • Maisonette: an apartment / flat on two levels with internal stairs, or which has its own entrance at street level.
  • Mess: a building or flat with single bedroom per tenant and shared facilities like toilets and kitchens. These are popular with students, bachelors or low wage earners in the Indian subcontinent. It is similar to the bedsit in the UK. Some variants include multiple tenants per bedroom and inclusion of a centralized maid service or cooked meals with tenancy.
  • Mother-in-law apartment: small apartment either at the back, in the basement, or on an upper level subdivision of the main house, usually with a separate entrance (also known as a "Granny flat" in the UK, Australia New Zealand and South Africa). If it is a separate structure from the main house, it is called a 'granny cottage' or a 'doddy house'. Such Secondary suites are often efficiency or two room apartments but always have kitchen facilities (which is usually a legal requirement of any apartment).
  • Microapartment: rather common in the same countries where microhouses (above) are popular. These small single-room dwellings contain a kitchen, a bathroom, a sleeping area, etc., in one place, usually in a multistorey building.
  • Officetel: small apartment providing a combined work and living area in one place, especially in South Korea.
  • One-plus-five: a mid-rise apartment or condominium building consisting of four or five wood-framed floors above a concrete podium. This type of construction exploded in popularity in North American cities in the 2010s.
  • Penthouse: the top floor of multi-story building
  • Plattenbau (East German) / Panelák (Czech, Slovak): a communist-era tower block that is made of slabs of concrete put together.
  • Q-type: townhouse built mainly in housing estates in the UK beginning in the late 20th century. The houses are arranged in blocks of four with each house at a corner of the block. Similar to the earlier cluster house (see above).
  • Railroad apartment (or railroad flat): a type of apartment in which rooms are directly linked, without hallway separation, similar to a line of railroad cars.
  • Rooming house: a type of Single Room Occupancy building where most washing, kitchen and laundry facilities are shared between residents, which may also share a common suite of living rooms and dining room, with or without board arrangements. When board is provided (no longer common), a common dining time and schedule is imposed by the landlord who in such cases also serves as an innkeeper of sorts. In Australia and the United States, any housing accommodation with 4 or more bedrooms can be regarded as a rooming house if each bedroom is subject to individual tenancy agreements. In the U.S., rooming house lease agreements typically run for very short periods, usually week to week, or a few days at a time. Transient housing arrangements for longer term tenancies are implemented by a "rider" on a case by case basis, if local laws permit.
  • Rowhouse (USA); also called "Terraced home" (USA); also called "Townhouse": 3 or more houses in a row sharing a "party" wall with its adjacent neighbour. In New York City, "Brownstones" are rowhouses. Rowhouses are typically multiple stories. The term townhouse is currently coming into wider use in the UK, but terraced house (not "terraced home") is more common.
  • Shophouse: the name given in Southeast Asia to a terraced two to five story urban building featuring a shop or other public activity on the street level, with residential accommodation on upper floors.
  • Single Room Occupancy or SRO: a studio apartment, usually occurring with a block of many similar apartments, intended for use as public housing. They may or may not have their own washing, laundry, and kitchen facilities. In the United States, lack of kitchen facilities prevents use of the term "apartment", so such would be classified as a boarding house or hotel.
  • Six-pack: in New England (USA), this refers to a stick-built block of 6 apartments comprising (duplexed) two three story Triple deckers built side by side sharing one wall, a common roof, lot, yards (lawns and gardens, if any), parking arrangements, and basement, but possessing separately metered electric, and separate hot water and heating or air conditioning. In Australia, it refers to a style of apartments that were constructed during the 1960s, 70s and early 80s, usually comprising a single, masonry-built block containing 4 to 8 walk-up apartments (though sometimes, many more), of between 2 and 3 stories in height, with car parking at the side or rear.
  • Semi-detached - one building consisting of two separate "houses", typically side by side, each with separate entrances and typically without common inside areas. Each of the two houses typically has separate owners.
  • Studio apartment or Studio flat (UK), or Bachelor apartment or Efficiency apartment: a suite with a single room that doubles as living/sitting room and bedroom, with a kitchenette and bath squeezed in off to one side. The unit is designed for a single occupant or possibly a couple. Especially in Canada and South Africa, also called bachelor, or bachelorette if very small.
  • Tenement: a multi-unit dwelling usually of frame construction, quite often brick veneered, made up of several (generally many more than four to six) apartments (i.e. a large apartment building) that can be up to five stories. Tenements do not generally have elevators. In the United States the connotation sometimes implies a run-down or poorly cared-for building. It often refers to a very large apartment building usually constructed during the late 19th to early 20th century era sited in cities or company towns.
  • Terraced house: since the late 18th century is a style of housing where (generally) identical individual houses are conjoined into rows - a line of houses which abut directly on to each other built with shared party walls between dwellings whose uniform fronts and uniform height created an ensemble that was more stylish than a "rowhouse". However this is also the UK term for a "rowhouse" regardless of whether the houses are identical or not.
    • Back-to-back: terraced houses which also adjoin a second terrace to the rear. They were a common form of housing for workers during the Industrial Revolution in England.
  • Tower block or Apartment tower: a high-rise apartment building.
  • Townhouse: also called Rowhouse (US). In the UK, a townhouse is a traditional term for an upper-class house in London (in contrast with country house), and is now coming into use as a term for new terraced houses, which are often three or more stories tall and may include a garage on the ground floor.
    • Stacked townhouse: units are stacked on each other; units may be multilevel; all units have direct access from the outside.
  • Three family home or Three family house: U.S. real estate and advertising term for several configurations of apartment classed dwelling buildings including:
    • Triple decker: a three-family apartment house, usually of frame construction, in which all three apartment units are stacked on top of one another. (For additional characteristics, also see Multifamily home features below.)
  • Triplex (American English), Three-flat (British English) - a building similar to a duplex except there are three stories. Two-flat and possibly three-flat buildings are rather common in certain older neighborhoods in certain cities.
  • Townhouse - a house attached to any number of other townhouses each of which may have multiple floors, commonly side by side each with their own separate entrances. Each such house has its own owner.
  • Two decker: a two family house consisting of stacked apartments that frequently have similar or identical floor plans. Some two deckers, usually ones starting as single-family homes, have one or both floors sub-divided and are therefore three or four-family dwellings. Some have external stairways giving a totally separate entrance, and some, usually those which have been a single-family house now sub-divided, are similar to the Maisonette plan but sharing a common external 'main entrance' door and lock, and a main internal hall with stairways letting to the separate apartments. (For additional characteristics, also see Multifamily home features below.)
  • Tyneside flat: a pair of single-story flats in a two-story terrace, distinctively with two separate front doors to the street rather than a shared lobby. Notably found on Tyneside, North Eastern England.
  • Quadplex (American English), Four-flat (British English) - a building similar to a three-flat except there are four flats. In some cases, the arrangement of apartments may be different and the lot size may be larger than that of a regular house.
  • Tong Lau(唐樓 / 騎樓): a type of shophouse found in southern China and old parts of Hong Kong. It has shops on the first floor, no basement, no garage and about 3-4 floors. It had to be short for the Tong Laus in Hong kong is very close to the old Kai Tak airport, but it is now a cruise terminal and newer and higher buildings have sprung up there. The government has also been destroying the old Tong Laus and rebuilding.
  • "Toothpick Apartments": a type of apartment about 10-20 stories high and usually has one flat on each story. It is very thin, and surrounded by many other shorter buildings (Tong Lau), therefore nicknamed "Toothpick Apartments". They exist in Hong Kong, and are mostly private apartments. They have about 1-3 levels of car parks.
  • Unit: a type of Medium-density housing found in Australia and New Zealand.
  • Vatara: a housing complex, mainly found in urban Karnataka, India, similar to an apartment complex, but with mostly two stories and homes in a row on each floor.
See also:






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Living in the SuburbsPictured below: This Indianapolis suburb is a good example of how urban planners use winding streets to design many American subdivisions
​A suburb is a mixed-use or residential area, existing either as part of a city or urban area or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city. Suburbs might have their political jurisdiction, especially in the United States, but this is not always the case, especially in the United Kingdom where suburbs are located within the administrative boundaries of cities.

In most English-speaking countries, suburban areas are defined in contrast to central or inner-city areas, but in Australian English and South African English, suburb has become largely synonymous with what is called a "neighborhood" in other countries and the term extends to inner-city areas.

In some areas, such as Australia, India, China, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and parts of the United States and Canada, new suburbs are routinely annexed by adjacent cities. In others, such as Morocco, France, and much of the United States and Canada, many suburbs remain separate municipalities or are governed as part of a larger local government area such as a county.

In the United States, beyond the suburbs are exurbs, or "exurban areas", with less density but linked to the metropolitan area economically and by commuters.

Suburbs first emerged on a large scale in the 19th and 20th centuries as a result of improved rail and road transport, which led to an increase in commuting.

In general, they have lower population densities than inner city neighborhoods within a metropolitan area, and most residents commute to central cities or other business districts; however, there are many exceptions, including industrial suburbs, planned communities, and satellite cities. Suburbs tend to proliferate around cities that have an abundance of adjacent flat land.

​North America:

In the United States and Canada, suburb can refer either to an outlying residential area of a city or town or to a separate municipality or unincorporated area outside a town or city.

​Worldwide:

United States:

In the 20th century, many suburban areas, especially those not within the political boundaries of the city containing the central business area, began to see independence from the central city as an asset. In some cases, suburbanites saw self-government as a means to keep out people who could not afford the added suburban property maintenance costs not needed in city living.

Federal subsidies for suburban development accelerated this process as did the practice of redlining by banks and other lending institutions. In some cities such as Miami and San Francisco, the main city is much smaller than the surrounding suburban areas, leaving the city proper with a small portion of the metro area's population and land area.

Mesa, Arizona and Virginia Beach, the two most populous suburbs in the United States, are actually more populous than many of America's largest cities, including: Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Cleveland, Tampa, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and others.

Virginia Beach is now the largest city in its metropolitan area of Hampton Roads, having long since exceeded the population of its neighboring primary city, Norfolk. While Virginia Beach has slowly been taking on the characteristics of an urban city, it will not likely achieve the population density and urban characteristics of Norfolk. It is generally assumed that the population of Chesapeake, another Hampton Roads city, will also exceed that of Norfolk in 2018 if its current growth rate continues at its same pace.

Cleveland, Ohio is typical of many American central cities; its municipal borders have changed little since 1922, even though the Cleveland urbanized area has grown many times over.

Several layers of suburban municipalities now surround cities like: 
  • Boston, 
  • Cleveland, 
  • Chicago, 
  • Detroit, 
  • Los Angeles, 
  • Dallas, 
  • Denver, 
  • Houston, 
  • New York City, 
  • San Francisco, 
  • Sacramento, 
  • Atlanta, 
  • Miami, 
  • Baltimore, 
  • Milwaukee, 
  • Pittsburgh, 
  • Philadelphia, 
  • Phoenix, 
  • Roanoke, 
  • St. Louis,
  • Salt Lake City, 
  • Las Vegas, 
  • Minneapolis,
  • and Washington, D.C..

Suburbs in the United States have a prevalence of usually detached single-family homes.

They are characterized by:
  • Lower densities than central cities, dominated by single-family homes on small plots of land – anywhere from 0.1 acres and up – surrounded at close quarters by very similar dwellings.
  • Zoning patterns that separate residential and commercial development, as well as different intensities and densities of development. Daily needs are not within walking distance of most homes.
  • A greater percentage of whites (both non-Hispanic and, in some areas, Hispanic) and lesser percentage of citizens of other ethnic groups than in urban areas. However, black suburbanization grew between 1970 and 1980 by 2.6% as a result of central city neighborhoods expanding into older neighborhoods vacated by whites.
  • Subdivisions carved from previously rural land into multiple-home developments built by a single real estate company. These subdivisions are often segregated by minute differences in home value, creating entire communities where family incomes and demographics are almost completely homogeneous.
  • Shopping malls and strip malls behind large parking lots instead of a classic downtown shopping district.
  • A road network designed to conform to a hierarchy, including cul-de-sac, leading to larger residential streets, in turn leading to large collector roads, in place of the grid pattern common to most central cities and pre-World War II suburbs.
  • A greater percentage of one-story administrative buildings than in urban areas.
  • Compared to rural areas, suburbs usually have greater population density, higher standards of living, more complex road systems, more franchised stores and restaurants, and less farmland and wildlife.

By 2010, suburbs increasingly gained people in racial minority groups, as many members of minority groups gained better access to education and sought more favorable living conditions compared to inner city areas.

​Conversely, many white Americans also moved back to city centers. Nearly all major city downtowns (such as Downtown Miami, Downtown Detroit, Downtown Philadelphia, Downtown Roanoke, or Downtown Los Angeles) are experiencing a renewal, with large population growth, residential apartment construction, and increased social, cultural, and infrastructural investments, as have suburban neighborhoods close to city centers.

Better public transit, proximity to work and cultural attractions, and frustration with suburban life and gridlock have attracted young Americans to the city centers.

By 2010, suburbs increasingly gained people in racial minority groups, as many members of minority groups gained better access to education and sought more favorable living conditions compared to inner city areas.

Conversely, many white Americans also moved back to city centers. Nearly all major city downtowns (such as Downtown Miami, Downtown Detroit, Downtown Philadelphia, Downtown Roanoke, or Downtown Los Angeles) are experiencing a renewal, with large population growth, residential apartment construction, and increased social, cultural, and infrastructural investments, as have suburban neighborhoods close to city centers.

Better public transit, proximity to work and cultural attractions, and frustration with suburban life and gridlock have attracted young Americans to the city centers.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Suburban Living:






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​Rural areas in the United StatesPictured below: ​Rural counties make up about 80 percent of the land area of the United States, but they contain less than 20 percent of the U.S. population. The relative sparseness of the population in rural areas is one of many factors that influence the health and well-being of rural Americans.
Approximately 97% of United States' land area is within rural counties, and 60 million people (roughly 19.3% of the population) reside in these areas.

Most rural counties are experiencing persistent population decline.

Compared with households in urban areas, rural households had lower median household income ($52,386 compared with $54,296), lower median home values ($151,300 compared with $190,900), and lower monthly housing costs for households paying a mortgage ($1,271 compared with $1,561). A higher percentage owned their housing units “free and clear,” with no mortgage or loan (44.0 percent compared with 32.3 percent).

States with the highest median household incomes in rural areas were Connecticut ($93,382) and New Jersey ($92,972) (not statistically different from each other). The state with the lowest rural median household income was Mississippi ($40,200). Among rural areas, poverty rates varied from a low in Connecticut (4.6 percent) to a high in New Mexico (21.9 percent).

About 13.4 million children under the age of 18 live in rural areas of the nation.
Children in rural areas had lower rates of poverty than those in urban areas (18.9 percent compared with 22.3 percent), but more of them were uninsured (7.3 percent compared with 6.3 percent). A higher percentage of "own children" in rural areas lived in married-couple households (76.3 percent compared with 67.4 percent). ("Own children" includes never-married biological, step and adopted children of the couple).

As of 2016, about 7 percent of homeless people in the United States live in rural areas, although some believe that this is an underestimate.

History:

Rural America was the center of the Populist movement of the United States in the 1890s.

Since the 1930s, rural America has largely been a stronghold for the Republican Party with the exception of Vermont given its numerous Democrats elected to office in the 21st century.

Health:

There are significant health disparities between urban and rural areas of the United States.

The per capita rate of primary care physicians is lower in rural areas of the country (65 primary care physicians per 100,000 rural Americans, compared to 105 primary care physicians for urban and suburban Americans). Rural Americans are also more likely than other Americans to suffer from chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

A study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics in 2015 analyzed data on U.S. youth suicide rates from 1996 to 2010. It found that the rates of suicides for rural Americans age 10 to 24 was almost double the rate among their urban counterparts. This was attributed to social isolation, greater availability of guns, and difficulty accessing healthcare.

Not withstanding the economic and health challenges, a 2018 survey of rural adults found a majority felt they were better off financially than their parents at the same age. They thought their children would also experience such improvement. Forty percent said their lives came out better than they expected.

See also:







City Living in the United States including Urban Living and Planning
See also: List of Metropolitan Cities in the United States Pictured below: Largest Cities in U.S. Clockwise from Upper Left: New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago
​An urban area or urban agglomeration, is a human settlement with high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs.

In urbanism, the term contrasts to rural areas such as villages and hamlets and in urban sociology or urban anthropology it contrasts with natural environment. The creation of early predecessors of urban areas during the urban revolution led to the creation of human civilization with modern urban planning, which along with other human activities such as exploitation of natural resources leads to human impact on the environment.

"Agglomeration effects” are in the list of the main consequences of increased rates of firm creation since due to conditions created by greater level of industrial activity intensity in a given region; favorable environment for human capital development is also being generated simultaneously.

The world's urban population in 1950 of just 746 million has increased to 3.9 billion in the decades since.

In 2009, the number of people living in urban areas (3.42 billion) surpassed the number living in rural areas (3.41 billion) and since then the world has become more urban than rural. This was the first time that the majority of the world's population lived in a city. 

In 2014 there were 7.2 billion people living on the planet, of which the global urban population comprised 3.9 billion. The Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs at that time predicted the urban population would grow to 6.4 billion by 2050, with 37% of that growth to come from three countries: China, India and Nigeria.

The UN publishes data on cities, urban areas and rural areas, but relies almost entirely on national definitions of these areas. The UN principles and recommendations state that due to different characteristics of urban and rural areas across the globe, a global definition is not possible.

Urban areas are created and further developed by the process of urbanization. Urban areas are measured for various purposes, including analyzing population density and urban sprawl.

Unlike an urban area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urban area, but also satellite cities plus intervening rural land that is socio-economically connected to the urban core city, typically by employment ties through commuting, with the urban core city being the primary labor market.

The concept of urban area used for economic statistics should not be confused with concept of urban area used for road safety statistics. The last concept is also known as built-up area in road safety.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks to learn more about Urban Areas by Country: ___________________________________________________________________________

Below, Urbanization in the United States.

The urbanization of the United States has progressed throughout its entire history. Over the last two centuries, the United States of America has been transformed from a predominantly rural, agricultural nation into an urbanized, industrial one.

This was largely due to the Industrial Revolution in the United States (and parts of Western Europe) in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and the rapid industrialization which the United States experienced as a result.

In 1790, only about one out of every twenty Americans (on average) lived in urban areas (cities), but this ratio had dramatically changed to one out of four by 1870, one out of two by 1920, two out of three in the 1960s, and four out of five in the 2000s.

Urbanization:
​
The urbanization of the United States occurred over a period of many years, with the nation only attaining urban-majority status between 1910 and 1920. Currently, over four-fifths of the U.S. population resides in urban areas, a percentage which is still increasing today.

The United States Census Bureau changed its classification and definition of urban areas in 1950 and again in 1990, and caution is thus advised when comparing urban data from different time periods.

Urbanization was fastest in the Northeastern United States, which acquired an urban majority by 1880. Some Northeastern U.S. states had already acquired an urban majority before then, including: 
The Western U.S. is the most urbanized part of the country today, followed closely by the Northeastern United States. The Southern U.S. experienced rapid industrialization after World War II, and is now over three-quarters urban, having almost the same urban percentage in 2010 as the Midwestern United States. Just four U.S. states (out of fifty) have a rural majority today, and even some of these states (such as Mississippi) are continuing to urbanize.

Some U.S. states currently have an urban percentage around or above 90%, an urbanization rate almost unheard of a century ago.

The state of Maine (and Vermont, to a lesser degree) has bucked the trend towards greater urbanization which is exhibited throughout the rest of the United States. Maine's highest urban percentage ever was less than 52% (in 1950), and today less than 39% of the state's population resides in urban areas.

Maine is currently the least urban U.S. state; its urban percentage (39%) is less than half of the United States average (81%). Maine was less urban than the United States average in every U.S. census since the first one in 1790.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Urbanization in the USA: ___________________________________________________________________________

Urban Planning in the United States:

​Urban planning is a technical and political process concerned with the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportation, communications, and distribution networks.

Urban planning deals with physical layout of human settlements. The primary concern is the public welfare, which includes considerations of efficiency, sanitation, protection and use of the environment, as well as effects on social and economic activities.

Urban planning is considered an interdisciplinary field that includes social science, engineering and design sciences. It is closely related to the field of urban design and some urban planners provide designs for streets, parks, buildings and other urban areas.

Urban planning is also referred to as urban and regional planning, regional planning, town planning, city planning, rural planning, urban development or some combination in various areas worldwide.

Urban planning guides orderly development in urban, suburban and rural areas. Although predominantly concerned with the planning of settlements and communities, urban planning is also responsible for the planning and development of water use and resources, rural and agricultural land, parks and conserving areas of natural environmental significance. 

Practitioners of urban planning are concerned with research and analysis, strategic thinking, architecture, urban design, public consultation, policy recommendations, implementation and management. Enforcement methodologies include governmental zoning, planning permissions, and building codes, as well as private easements and restrictive covenants.

Urban planners work with the cognate fields of architecture, landscape architecture, civil engineering, and public administration to achieve strategic, policy and sustainability goals.

Early urban planners were often members of these cognate fields. Today urban planning is a separate, independent professional discipline. The discipline is the broader category that includes different sub-fields such as the following:
​Theories:
Further information: Theories of urban planning
See also: Planning cultures

Planning theory is the body of scientific concepts, definitions, behavioral relationships, and assumptions that define the body of knowledge of urban planning.

There are eight procedural theories of planning that remain the principal theories of planning procedure today:
  • the rational-comprehensive approach,
  • the incremental approach, the transactive approach,
  • the communicative approach,
  • the advocacy approach,
  • the equity approach,
  • the radical approach,
  • and the humanist or phenomenological approach.

​Technical aspects:
Further information: Technical aspects of urban planning

Technical aspects of urban planning involve the applying scientific, technical processes, considerations and features that are involved in planning for land use, urban design, natural resources, transportation, and infrastructure.

Urban planning includes techniques such as: predicting population growth, zoning, geographic mapping and analysis, analyzing park space, surveying the water supply, identifying transportation patterns, recognizing food supply demands, allocating healthcare and social services, and analyzing the impact of land use.

In order to predict how cities will develop and estimate the effects of their interventions, planners use various models. These models can be used to indicate relationships and patterns in demographic, geographic, and economic data. They might deal with short-term issues such as how people move through cities, or long-term issues such as land use and growth.

Building codes and other regulations dovetail with urban planning by governing how cities are constructed and used from the individual level.

Urban planners:
Further information: Urban planner

An urban planner is a professional who works in the field of urban planning for the purpose of optimizing the effectiveness of a community's land use and infrastructure. They formulate plans for the development and management of urban and suburban areas, typically analyzing land use compatibility as well as economic, environmental and social trends.

In developing any plan for a community (whether commercial, residential, agricultural, natural or recreational), urban planners must consider a wide array of issues including sustainability, existing and potential pollution, transport including potential congestion, crime, land values, economic development, social equity, zoning codes, and other legislation.

The importance of the urban planner is increasing in the 21st century, as modern society begins to face issues of increased population growth, climate change and unsustainable development. An urban planner could be considered a green collar professional.

Some researchers suggest that urban planners around the world work in different "planning cultures", adapted to their local cities and cultures. However, professionals have identified skills, abilities and basic knowledge sets that are common to urban planners across national and regional boundaries.

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Forms of Shelters, including Residences for the Homeless, Abused Females, and Abandoned Pets​Pictured below: Different Kinds of Shelters (buildings)
[Your Webhost: this topic breaks down Shelter sub-topics to accommodate the different forms of Common Shelters]

A shelter is a basic architectural structure or building that provides protection from the local environment.

Having a place of shelter, of safety and of retreat, i.e. a home, is commonly considered a fundamental physiological human need, the foundation from which to develop higher human motivations.

Types of Shelters: ___________________________________________________________________________

​A women's shelter, also known as a women's refuge and battered women's shelter, is a place of temporary protection and support for women escaping domestic violence and intimate partner violence of all forms. The term is also frequently used to describe a location for the same purpose that is open to people of both genders at risk.

Representative data samples done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that one in three women will experience physical violence during their lifetime. One in ten will experience sexual violence.

Women's shelters help individuals escape these instances of domestic violence and intimate partner violence and act as a place for protection as they choose how to move forward. Additionally, many shelters offer a variety of other services to help women and their children including counseling and legal guidance.

The ability to escape is valuable for women subjected to domestic violence or intimate partner violence. Additionally, such situations frequently involve an imbalance of power that limits the victim's financial options when they want to leave.

Shelters help women gain tangible resources to help them and their families create a new life. Lastly, shelters are valuable to battered women because they can help them find a sense of empowerment.

Women's shelters are available in more than forty-five countries. They are supported with government resources as well as non-profit funds. Additionally, many philanthropists also help and support these institutions.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Women's Shelters:
​ See also: ___________________________________________________________________________

Homeless shelters are a type of homeless service agency which provide temporary residence for homeless individuals and families.

Shelters exist to provide residents with safety and protection from exposure to the weather while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact on the community.

They are similar to, but distinguishable from, various types of emergency shelters, which are typically operated for specific circumstances and populations—fleeing natural disasters or abusive social circumstances. Extreme weather conditions create problems similar to disaster management scenarios, and are handled with warming centers, which typically operate for short durations during adverse weather.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Homeless Shelters:
​ ___________________________________________________________________________

An animal shelter or pound is a place that stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals, mostly dogs and cats and sometimes sick or wounded wildlife, are kept and rehabilitated.

While no-kill shelters exist, it is sometimes policy to euthanize animals that are or not claimed quickly enough by a previous or new owner. In Europe, of the 30 countries included in a survey, all but five (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece and Italy) permitted the killing of healthy stray dogs. Critics believe the new term "animal shelter" is generally a euphemism for the older term "pound".

​The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would be penned or impounded until they were claimed by their owners.

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Public Housing in the United States Pictured below: One Charlestown and the future of public housing (Boston Globe)
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, which may be central or local.

Social housing is any rental housing that may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the two, usually with the aim of providing affordable housing. Social housing is generally rationed by some form of means testing or administrative measures of housing need. Social housing can also be seen as a potential remedy to housing inequality.

Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, definitions of poverty, and other criteria for allocation vary within different contexts.

​United States:
Main article: Public housing in the United States
​
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, government involvement in housing for the poor was chiefly in the introduction of building standards. Atlanta, Georgia's Techwood Homes, dedicated in 1935, were the nation's first public housing project.

Most housing communities were developed from the 1930s onward and initial public housing was largely slum clearance, with the requirement insisted upon by private builders that for every unit of public housing constructed, a unit of private housing would be demolished.

This also eased concerns of the establishment by eliminating or altering neighborhoods commonly considered a source of disease, and reflected progressive-era sanitation initiatives. Moreover, public housing, along with the Federal Highway Program, demolished the older, substandard housing of communities of color across the United States.

However, the advent of makeshift tent communities during the Great Depression caused concern in the Administration. Public housing in its earliest decades was usually much more working-class and middle-class and white than it was by the 1970s. Many Americans associate large, multi-story towers with public housing, but early projects were actually low-rise, though Le Corbusier superblocks caught on before World War II.

A unique US public housing initiative was the development of subsidized middle-class housing during the late New Deal (1940–42) under the auspices of the 33 of the Federal Works Agency under the direction of Colonel Lawrence Westbrook. These eight projects were purchased by the residents after the Second World War and as of 2009 seven of the projects continue to operate as mutual housing corporations owned by their residents. These projects are among the very few definitive success stories in the history of the US public housing effort.

Public housing was only built with the blessing of the local government, and projects were almost never built on suburban greenfields, but through regeneration of older neighborhoods.

The destruction of tenements and eviction of their low-income residents consistently created problems in nearby neighborhoods with "soft" real estate markets. Houses, apartments or other residential units are usually subsidized on a rent-geared-to-income (RGI) basis. Some communities have now embraced a mixed income, with both assisted and market rents, when allocating homes as they become available.

The federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) department's 1993 HOPE VI program addressed concerns of distressed properties and blighted super-blocks with revitalization and funding projects for the renewal of public housing to decrease its density and allow for tenants with mixed income levels.

Projects continue to have a reputation for violence, drug use, and prostitution, especially in New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. as well as others leading to the passage of a 1996 federal "one strike you're out" law, enabling the eviction of tenants convicted of crimes, especially drug-related, or merely as a result of being tried for some crimes.

Other attempts to solve these problems include the 1974 Section 8 Housing Program, which encourages the private sector to construct affordable homes, and subsidized public housing. This assistance can be "project-based", subsidizing properties, or "tenant-based", which provides tenants with a voucher, accepted by some landlords.

Puerto Rico:
Main article: Public housing in Puerto Rico

Neighbourhoods in Puerto Rico are often divided into three types: 
  1. barrio, 
  2. urbanización (urbanisation)
  3. and residencial público (public housing).

An urbanización is a type of housing where land is developed into lots, often by a private developer, and where single-family homes are built. More recently, non-single-family units, such as condominiums and townhouses are being built which also fall into this category.

In Puerto Rico, a condominium is a housing unit located in a high-rise building. It is popularly called an apartamento (English: 'apartment'), whether or not its resident owns the unit or lives it as a renter.)

Public housing, on the other hand, are housing units built with government funding, primarily through programs of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). These have traditionally consisted multi-family dwellings in housing complexes called a Barriada or a Caserío (and more recently a Residencial Publico), and where all exterior grounds consist of shared areas.

Increasingly, however, public housing developments are being built that consist of other than the traditional multi-family dwellings with all exterior grounds consisting of shared outside area, for example, public housing may consist of single family garden apartments units.

Finally, a home that is located in neither an urbanizacion nor of a public housing development is said to be located in (and to be a part of) a barrio. In Puerto Rico, a barrio also has a second and very different meaning official meaning: the geographical area into which a municipios is divided for official administrative purposes. In this sense, urbanizaciones as well as public housing developments (as well as one or several barrios in the popular sense) may be located in one of these 901 official geographic areas.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Public Housing: ​​







Housing in the United StatesPictured below: Faced with a housing crisis, California could further restrict supply
Housing, or more generally living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings collectively, for the purpose of sheltering people — the planning or provision delivered by an authority, with related meanings.

The social issue is of ensuring that members of society have a home in which to live, whether this is a house, or some other kind of dwelling, lodging, or shelter. Many governments have one or more housing authorities, sometimes also called a housing ministry, or housing department.

Macroeconomy and housing price:

Previous research shows that housing price is affected by the macroeconomy. Li et al (2018)'s research showed that 1% increase in the Consumer Price Index leads to a $3,559,715 increase in housing prices and raises the property price per square feet by $119.3387.

Money Supply (M2) has a positive relationship with housing prices. As M2 increases by one unit, housing prices will rise by 0.0618 in a study conducted in Hong Kong. When there is a 1% increase in the best lending rate, housing prices drop by between $18,237.26 and $28,681.17 in the HAC model.

Mortgage repayments lead to a rise in the discount window base rate. A 1% rise in the rate leads to a $14,314.69 drop in housing prices, and an average selling price drop of $585,335.50. As the US real interest rate increases, the interest rates in Hong Kong must follow, increasing the mortgage repayments.

When there is a 1% increase in the US real interest rate, the property prices decreased from $9302.845 to $4957.274, and saleable area drops by $4.955206 and $14.01284. When there is a 1% rise in overnight Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate, the housing prices drop to about 3455.529, and the price per ft2 will drop by $187.3119.

Living space in terms of units of area:

The amount of square meters or square feet used as housing per family group can vary considerably - even within a single jurisdiction.

Informal housing:
​
The term "informal housing" can include any form of shelter or settlement (or lack thereof) which is illegal, falls outside of government control or regulation, or is not afforded protection by the state. As such, the informal housing-industry is part of the informal sector.

To have informal housing status is to exist in "a state of deregulation, one where the ownership, use, and purpose of land cannot be fixed and mapped according to any prescribed set of regulations or the law".

While there is no global unified law of property-ownership typically, the informal occupant or community will lack security of tenure and, with this, ready or reliable access to civic amenities (potable water, electricity- and gas-supply, sanitation and waste collection). Due to the informal nature of occupancy, the state will typically be unable to extract rent or land taxes.

The term "informal housing" is useful in capturing informal populations other than those living slum settlements or shanty towns, which the UN Habitat defines more narrowly as "contiguous settlement where the inhabitants are characterizes as having inadequate housing and basic services...often not recognised or addressed by the public authorities an integral or equal part of the city."

Common categories or terms associated with informal housing include: slums, slum settlements, shanty towns, squats, homelessness and pavement dwellers.

Informal housing in developing countries:

Populations around the world face issues of homelessness and insecurity of tenure. However, particularly pernicious circumstances may obtain in developing countries, leading to a large proportion of the population resorting to informal housing. According to Saskia Sassen, in the race to become a "global city" with the requisite state-of-the-art economic and regulatory platforms for handling the operations of international firms and markets, radical physical interventions in the fabric of the city are often called for, displacing "modest, low-profit firms and households".

If these households lack the economic resilience to repurchase in the same area or to relocate to a place that offers similar economic opportunity, they are prime candidates for informal housing. For example, in Mumbai, India, fast-paced economic growth, coupled with inadequate infrastructure, endemic corruption and the legacy of restrictive tenancy laws have left the city unable to house the estimated 54% who now live informally.

Many cities in the developing world are experiencing a rapid increase in informal housing, driven by mass migration to cities in search of employment or fleeing from war or environmental disaster.

According to Robert Neuwirth, there are over 1 billion (one in seven) squatters worldwide. If current trends continue, this will increase to 2 billion by 2030 (one in four), and 3 billion by 2050 (one in three). Informal housing, and the often informal livelihoods that accompany them, are set to be defining features of the cities of the future.

See also:







Affordable Housing, including ​The 10 States With the Most Affordable Housing (US News 2/14/2020) Pictured below: The 10 States With the Most Affordable Housing (U.S. News)
​Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a median household income or below as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affordable housing refers to mortgages and number of forms that exist along a continuum – from emergency shelters, to transitional housing, to non-market rental (also known as social or subsidized housing), to formal and informal rental, indigenous housing, and ending with affordable home ownership.

In Australia, the National Affordable Housing Summit Group developed their definition of affordable housing as housing that is "...reasonably adequate in standard and location for lower or middle income households and does not cost so much that a household is unlikely to be able to meet other basic needs on a sustainable basis." Affordable housing in the United Kingdom includes "social rented and intermediate housing, provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market."

The notion of housing affordability became widespread in the 1980s in Europe and North America. In the words of Alain Bertaud, of New York University and former principal planner at the World Bank, "It is time for planners to abandon abstract objectives and to focus their efforts on two measurable outcomes that have always mattered since the growth of large cities during the 19th century’s industrial revolution: workers’ spatial mobility and housing affordability."

Housing choice is a response to an extremely complex set of economic, social, and psychological impulses. For example, some households may choose to spend more on housing because they feel they can afford to, while others may not have a choice.

​Measuring housing affordability:

Median multiple:
Main article: Median multiple

The median multiple indicator, recommended by the World Bank and the United Nations, rates affordability of housing by dividing the median house price by gross (before tax) annual median household income).

"A common measure of community-wide affordability is the number of homes that a household with a certain percentage of median income can afford. For example, in a perfectly balanced housing market, the median household (the wealthier half of households) could officially afford the median housing option, while those poorer than the median income could not afford the median home. 50% affordability for the median home indicates a balanced market."

Determining housing affordability is complex and the commonly used housing-expenditure-to-income-ratio tool has been challenged. In the United States and Canada, a commonly accepted guideline for housing affordability is a housing cost that does not exceed 30% of a household's gross income. Canada, for example, switched to a 25% rule from a 20% rule in the 1950s. In the 1980s this was replaced by a 30% rule. India uses a 40% rule.

Housing affordability index:
Main article: Housing affordability index

​One of the greatest strengths of the housing affordability index (HAI) developed by MIT is its ability to capture the total cost of ownership of individuals' housing choices. In computing the index the obvious cost of rents and mortgage payments are modified by the hidden costs of those choices.

Household income and wealth:

Income is the primary factor – not price and availability, that determines housing affordability.

In a market economy the distribution of income is the key determinant of the quantity and quality of housing obtained. Therefore, understanding affordable housing challenges requires understanding trends and disparities in income and wealth. Housing is often the single biggest expenditure of low and middle income families. For low and middle income families, their house is also the greatest source of wealth.

The most common approach to measure the affordability of housing has been to consider the percentage of income that a household spends on housing expenditures.

Another method of studying affordability looks at the regular hourly wage of full-time workers who are paid only the minimum wage (as set by their local, regional, or national government).

The hope is that full-time workers will be able to afford at least a small apartment in the area where they work. Some countries look at those living in relative poverty, which is usually defined as making less than 60% of the median household income. In their policy reports, they consider the presence or absence of housing for people making 60% of the median income.

Housing expenditures:

Housing affordability can be measured by the changing relationships between house prices and rents, and between house prices and incomes. There has been an increase among policy makers in affordable housing as the price of housing has increased dramatically creating a crisis in affordable housing.

Since 2000 the "world experienced an unprecedented house price boom in terms of magnitude and duration, but also of synchronization across countries." "Never before had house prices risen so fast, for so long, in so many countries." Prices doubled in many countries and nearly tripled in Ireland.

The bursting of the biggest financial bubble in history in 2008 wreaked havoc globally on the housing market. By 2011 home prices in Ireland had plunged by 45% from their peak in 2007. In the United States prices fell by 34% while foreclosures increased exponentially. In Spain and Denmark home prices dropped by 15%. However, in spite of the bust, home prices continue to be overvalued by about 25% or more in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, New Zealand, Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.

Causes and consequences of rises in housing prices:

Costs are being driven by a number of factors including:
  • demographics shifts
    • the declining number of people per dwelling
    • Growing Density Convergence, Regional Urbanization
    • solid population growth (for example sky-high prices in Australia and Canada as a rising population pushes up demand).
  • supply and demand
    • a shortfall in the number of dwellings to the number of households
      • smaller family size
      • the strong psychological desire for home ownership,
  • shifts in economic policies and innovations in financial instruments
    • reduced profitability of other forms of investment
    • availability of housing finance
    • low interest rates
    • mortgage market innovations
  • public policy
    • deregulation
    • land use zoning
    • significant taxes' levies and fees by Government on new housing (especially in Australia)

Inequality and housing:

A number of researchers argue that a shortage of affordable housing – at least in the US – is caused in part by income inequality. David Rodda noted that from 1984 and 1991, the number of quality rental units decreased as the demand for higher quality housing increased.

Through gentrification of older neighbourhoods, for example, in East New York, rental prices increased rapidly as landlords found new residents willing to pay higher market rate for housing and left lower income families without rental units. The ad valorem property tax policy combined with rising prices made it difficult or impossible for low income residents to keep pace.

Other housing expenditures:

In measuring affordability of housing there are various expenditures beyond the price of the actual housing stock itself, that are considered depending on the index being used.

Some organizations and agencies consider the cost of purchasing a single-family home; others look exclusively at the cost of renting an apartment.

Many U.S. studies, for example, focus primarily on the median cost of renting a two-bedroom apartment in a large apartment complex for a new tenant. These studies often lump together luxury apartments and slums, as well as desirable and undesirable neighborhoods.

While this practice is known to distort the true costs, it is difficult to provide accurate information for the wide variety of situations without the report being unwieldy.
Normally, only legal, permitted, separate housing is considered when calculating the cost of housing.

The low rent costs for a room in a single family home, or an illegal garage conversion, or a college dormitory are generally excluded from the calculation, no matter how many people in an area live in such situations. Because of this study methodology, median housing costs tend to be slightly inflated.

Costs are generally considered on a cash (not accrual) basis. Thus a person making the last payment on a large home mortgage might live in officially unaffordable housing one month, and very affordable housing the following month, when the mortgage is paid off. This distortion can be significant in areas where real estate costs are high, even if incomes are similarly high, because a high income allows a higher proportion of the income to be dedicated towards buying an expensive home without endangering the household's ability to buy food or other basic necessities.

Growing density convergence and regional urbanization:

The majority of the more than seven billion people on earth now live in cities (UN). There are more than 500 city regions of more than one million inhabitants in the world. Cities become megacities become megalopolitan city regions and even "galaxies" of more than 60 million inhabitants. The Yangtze Delta-Greater Shanghai region now surpasses 80 million. Tokyo-Yokohama adjacent to Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto have a combined population of 100 million. Rapid population growth leads to increased need for affordable housing in most cities.

The availability of affordable housing in proximity of mass transit and linked to job distribution has become severely imbalanced in this period of rapid regional urbanization and growing density convergence.

"In addition to the distress it causes families who cannot find a place to live, lack of affordable housing is considered by many urban planners to have negative effects on a community's overall health."

Affordable housing challenges in inner cities range from the homeless who are forced to live on the street to the relative deprivation of vital workers like police officers, firefighters, teachers and nurses unable to find affordable accommodation near their place of work. These workers are forced to live in suburbia, commuting up to two hours each way to work.

Lack of affordable housing can make low-cost labour scarcer (as workers travel longer distances) (Pollard and Stanley 2007).

Economy:

Lack of affordable housing places a particular burden on local economies.
As well, individual consumers are faced with mortgage arrears and excessive debt and therefore cut back on consumption. A combination of high housing costs and high debt levels contributes to a reduction in savings.

These factors can lead to decreased investment in sectors that are essential to the long-term growth of the economy.

Supply and demand:

In some countries, the market has been unable to meet the growing demand to supply housing stock at affordable prices. Although demand for affordable housing, particularly rental housing that is affordable for low and middle income earners, has increased, the supply has not.

Potential home buyers are forced to turn to the rental market, which is also under pressure. An inadequate supply of housing stock increases demand on the private and social rented sector, and in worse case scenarios, homelessness.

Some of the factors that affect the supply and demand of housing stock
  • Demographic and behavioral factors
  • Migration (to cities and potential employment)
  • Increased life expectancy
  • Building codes
  • A greater propensity for people to live alone
  • Young adults delaying forming their own household (in advanced economies).
  • Exclusionary zoning

Factors that affect tenure choices (ex. owner occupier, private rented, social rented)
  • Employment rates
    • Rising unemployment rates increase demand for market rentals, social housing and homelessness.
  • Real household incomes
    • Household incomes have not kept up with rising housing prices
  • Affordability of rents and owner occupation
  • Interest rates
  • Availability of mortgages
  • Levels of confidence in the economy and housing market
    • Low confidence decreases demand for owner occupation

Labor market performance:

In both large metropolitan areas and regional towns where housing prices are high, a lack of affordable housing places local firms at a competitive disadvantage. They are placed under wage pressures as they attempt to decrease the income/housing price gap. Key workers have fewer housing choices if prices rise to non-affordable levels. Variations in affordability of housing between areas may create labour market impediments.

Potential workers are discouraged from moving to employment in areas of low affordability. They are also discouraged from migrating to areas of high affordability as the low house prices and rents indicate low capital gain potential and poor employment prospects.

Social costs of lack of affordable housing:

Housing affordability is more than just a personal trouble experienced by individual households who cannot easily find a place to live. Lack of affordable housing is considered by many urban planners to have negative effects on a community's overall health.

Jobs, transportation, and affordable housing:
Main article: Workforce housing

Lack of affordable housing can make low-cost labor more scarce, and increase demands on transportation systems (as workers travel longer distances between jobs and affordable housing). Housing cost increases in U.S. cities have been linked to declines in enrollment at local schools. In Australia, unaffordable housing has been linked to declining fertility. 

"Faced with few affordable options, many people attempt to find less expensive housing by buying or renting farther out, but long commutes often result in higher transportation costs that erase any savings on shelter." Pollard (2010) called this the "drive 'til you qualify" approach, which causes far-flung development and forces people to drive longer distances to get to work, to get groceries, to take children to school, or to engage in other activities.

A well located dwelling might save significant household travel costs and therefore improve overall family economics, even if the rent is higher than a dwelling in a poorer location.

A household's inhabitants must decide whether to pay more for housing to keep commuting time and expense low, or to accept a long or expensive commute to obtain "better" housing.

The absolute availability of housing is not generally considered in the calculation of affordable housing. In a depressed or sparsely settled rural area, for example, the predicted price of the canonical median two-bedroom apartment may be quite easily affordable even to a minimum-wage worker – if only any apartments had ever been built. Some affordable housing prototypes include Nano House and Affordable Green Tiny House Project.

Affordable housing and public policy:

Policy makers at all levels – global, national, regional, municipal, community associations – are attempting to respond to the issue of affordable housing, a highly complex crisis of global proportions, with a myriad of policy instruments. These responses range from stop-gap financing tools to long-term intergovernmental infrastructural changes.

In the simplest of terms, affordability of housing refers to the amount of capital one has available in relation to the price of the goods to be obtained. Public policies are informed by underlying assumptions about the nature of housing itself.

Is housing a basic need, a right, an entitlement, or a public good? Or is just another household-level consumer choice, a commodity or an investment within the free market system? "Housing Policies provide a remarkable litmus test for the values of politicians at every level of office and of the varied communities that influence them. Often this test measures simply the warmth or coldness of heart of the more affluent and secure towards families of a lower socio-economic status (Bacher 1993:16)."

Affordable housing needs can be addressed through public policy instruments that focus on the demand side of the market, programs that help households reach financial benchmarks that make housing affordable. This can include approaches that simply promote economic growth in general – in the hope that a stronger economy, higher employment rates, and higher wages will increase the ability of households to acquire housing at market prices.

Federal government policies define banking and mortgage lending practices, tax and regulatory measures affecting building materials, professional practices (ex. real estate transactions). The purchasing power of individual households can be enhanced through tax and fiscal policies that result in reducing the cost of mortgages and the cost of borrowing.

Public policies may include the implementation of subsidy programs and incentive patterns for average households. For the most vulnerable groups, such as seniors, single-parent families, the disabled, etc. some form of publicly funded allowance strategy can be implemented providing individual households with adequate income to afford housing.

Currently, policies that facilitate production on the supply side include favorable land use policies such as inclusionary zoning, relaxation of environmental regulations, and the enforcement of affordable housing quotas in new developments.

In some countries, such as Canada, municipal governments began to play a greater role in developing and implementing policies regarding form and density of municipal housing in residential districts, as early as the 1950s. At the municipal level recently promoted policy tools include relaxation of prohibitions against accessory dwelling units, and reduction of the amount of parking that must be built for a new structure.

Affordable housing is a controversial reality of contemporary life, for gains in affordability often result from expanding land available for housing or increasing the density of housing units in a given area. Ensuring a steady supply of affordable housing means ensuring that communities weigh real and perceived livability impacts against the sheer necessity of affordability.

The process of weighing the impacts of locating affordable housing is quite contentious, and is laden with race and class implications. Recent research, however, suggests that proximity to low-income housing developments generally has a positive impact on neighborhood property conditions.

The growing gap between rich and poor since the 1980s manifests itself in a housing system where public policy decisions privilege the ownership sector to the disadvantage of the rental sector.

Ann Owen wonders if the housing market helped reduced poverty concentration in the National longitudinal data between the years of 1977–2008 with concentration of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Data information is to compare or intertwine with the differences of national housing subsidies, the entry, exit, and enhancement of low income housing.

Right to build:

​An article by libertarian writer Virginia Postrel in the November 2007 issue of Atlantic Monthly reported on a study of the cost of obtaining the "right to build" (i.e. a building permit, red tape, bureaucracy, etc.) in different U.S. cities.

The "right to build" cost does not include the cost of the land or the cost of constructing the house. The study was conducted by Harvard economists Edward Glaeser and Kristina Tobio.

According to the chart accompanying the article, the cost of obtaining the "right to build" adds approximately $600,000 to the cost of each new house that is built in San Francisco.

The study, cited, published by Ed Glaeser and Joe Gyourko, reached its conclusion about the value of right to build in different localities based on a methodology of comparing the cost of single family homes on quarter-acre versus half-acre lots to get a marginal land price and then comparing the selling price of homes to construction costs to get a price for land plus other costs, with the difference between the two being attributed to the cost of zoning and other local government permitting and regulations.

​Government restrictions on affordable housing:

Many governments put restrictions on the size or cost of a dwelling that people can live in, making it essentially illegal to live permanently in a house that is too small, low-cost or not compliant with other government-defined requirements.

Generally, these laws are implemented in an attempt to raise the perceived "standard" of housing across the country. This can lead to thousands of houses across a country being left empty for much of the year even when there is a great need for more affordable housing; such is the case in countries like Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, where there is a common tradition to have a summer house. This sometimes raises concerns for the respect of rights such as the right to utilize one's property.

In the United States, most cities have zoning codes that set the minimum size for a housing unit (often 400 square feet) as well as the number of non-related persons who can live together in one unit, resulting in having "outlawed the bottom end of the private housing market, driving up rents on everything above it." 

Affordable housing by country:
Main article: Affordable housing by country

The challenges of promoting affordable housing varies by location.
​
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Affordable Housing in the United States:

​The federal government in the U.S. provides subsidies to make housing more affordable. Financial assistance is provided for homeowners through the mortgage interest tax deduction and for lower income households through housing subsidy programs.

In the 1970s the federal government spent similar amounts on tax reductions for homeowners as it did on subsidies for low-income housing. However, by 2005, tax reductions had risen to $120 billion per year, representing nearly 80 percent of all federal housing assistance. The Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform for President Bush proposed reducing the home mortgage interest deduction in a 2005 report.

Housing assistance from the federal government for lower income households can be divided into three parts:
  • "Tenant based" subsidies given to an individual household, known as the Section 8 program
  • "Project based" subsidies given to the owner of housing units that must be rented to lower income households at affordable rates, and
  • Public Housing, which is usually owned and operated by the government. (Some public housing projects are managed by subcontracted private agencies.)

“Project based" subsidies are also known by their section of the U.S. Housing Act or the Housing Act of 1949, and include Section 8, Section 236, Section 221(d)(3), Section 202 for elderly households, Section 515 for rural renters, Section 514/516 for farmworkers and Section 811 for people with disabilities. There are also housing subsidies through the Section 8 program that are project based.

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and USDA Rural Development administer these programs. HUD and USDA Rural Development programs have ceased to produce large numbers of units since the 1980s.

Since 1986, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program has been the primary federal program to produce affordable units; however, the housing produced in this program is less affordable than the former HUD programs.

Another program is Inclusionary Housing—an ordinance that requires housing developers to reserve a percentage between 10-30% of housing units from new or rehabilitated projects to be rented or sold at a below market rate for low and moderate-income households.

One of the most unusual US public housing initiatives was the development of subsidized middle-class housing during the late New Deal (1940–42) under the auspices of the Mutual Ownership Defense Housing Division of the Federal Works Agency under the direction of Colonel Lawrence Westbrook. These eight projects were purchased by the residents after the Second World War and as of 2009 seven of the projects continue to operate as mutual housing corporations owned by their residents. These projects are among the very few definitive success stories in the history of the US public housing effort.

In the U.S., households are commonly defined in terms of the amount of realized income they earn relative to the Area Median Income or AMI. Localized AMI figures are calculated annually based on a survey of comparably sized households within geographic ranges known as metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the US Office of Management and Budget.

For U.S. housing subsidies, households are categorized by federal law as follows:
  • Moderate income households earn between 80% and 120% of AMI.
  • Low income households earn between 50% and 80% of AMI.
  • Very low income households earn no more than 50% of AMI.

Some states and cities in the United States operate a variety of affordable housing programs, including supportive housing programs, transitional housing programs and rent subsidies as part of public assistance programs.

​Local and state governments can adapt these income limits when administering local affordable housing programs; however, U.S. federal programs must adhere to the definitions above. For the Section 8 voucher program, the maximum household contribution to rent can be as high as 40% gross income.

​Comprehensive data for the most affordable and least affordable places in the U.S. is published each year by an affordable housing non-profit organization, the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The NLIHC promotes a guideline of 30% of household income as the upper limit of affordability. According to a 2012 National Low Income Housing Coalition report, in every community across the United States "rents are unaffordable to full-time working people."

However, by using an indicator, such as the Median Multiple indicator which rates affordability of housing by dividing the median house price by gross (before tax) annual median household income), without considering the extreme disparities between the incomes of high-net-worth individual (HNWI) and those in the lower quintiles, a distorted picture of real affordability is created. Using this indicator—which rates housing affordability on a scale of 0 to 5, with categories 3 and under affordable—in 2012, the United States overall market was considered 3 (affordable).

Since 1996, while incomes in the upper quintile increased, incomes in the lower quintile households decreased creating negative outcomes in housing affordability.

Before the real estate bubble of 2007, the median household paid $658 per month in total housing costs (Census 2002). A total of 20% of households were deemed to be living in unaffordable housing: Nine percent of all households are renters in unaffordable housing and eleven percent of all households are homeowners with high housing costs.

In the 2000 U.S. Census, the median homeowner with a mortgage (70% of homeowners and 48% of census respondents) spent $1,088 each month, or 21.7% of household income, on housing costs. The median homeowner without a mortgage (30% of all homeowners (80% of elderly homeowners) and 20% of respondents) spent $295 per month, or 10.5% of household income, on housing costs. Renters in 2001 (32% of respondents) spent $633 each month, or 29% of household income, on housing costs.

Governmental and quasi-governmental agencies that contribute to the work of ensuring the existence of a steady supply of affordable housing in the United States are the following:
Housing Partnership Network is an umbrella organization of 100+ housing and community development nonprofits.

Important private sector institutions worth consulting are the National Association of Home Builders, the National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA), the Council for Affordable and Rural Housing (CARH) and the National Association of Realtors.

Valuable research institutions with staff dedicated to the analysis of "affordable housing" include the following:
Several of these institutions (the Fannie Mae Foundation, Urban Institute, Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, Enterprise Community Partners, LISC, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, and others) partnered to create KnowledgePlex, an online information resource devoted to affordable housing and community development issues.

New York City:
Main article: New York City housing shortage
See also: New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development

New York City has a shortage of affordable housing resulting in overcrowding and homelessness. New York City attracts thousands of new residents each year and housing prices continue to climb. Finding affordable housing affects a large portion of the city’s population including low-income, moderate-income, and even median income families.

Since 1970, income has remained stagnant while rent has nearly doubled for New Yorkers. Consequently, 48.7% of householders spend more than 30% of their income on rent. Several federal and state initiatives have targeted this problem, but have failed to provide enough affordable, inclusive, and sustainable housing for New York City residents.

City of San Diego:
See also: California housing shortage

San Diego's housing crisis is largely driven by the cost of the housing, rather than a shortage of housing units. According to the Housing and Urban Development, total housing costs are affordable if they meet or are below 30% of annual income.

According to the American Community Survey of 2016, 54.8% of renters in San Diego pay 30% or over of their income toward rent and housing costs every month. Even with an estimated 84,000 vacant housing units, a significant number of people choose to live outside of county lines, where housing costs are lower.

About twenty percent of San Diego workers live outside the county, notably in Riverside County, where median home costs can be as much as $195,400 cheaper. However, where housing costs may be lower, these workers are now facing longer commutes. The combination of housing costs and transport costs means that as many as 45% of the population working in San Diego face poverty.

Homelessness is a huge challenge also stemming from this lack of affordable housing.

The Regional Task Force on the Homeless counted 4,912 homeless individuals in the City of San Diego alone, with 8,576 homeless persons in the San Diego region. Multiple propositions have been made to abate the problem. In 2018, California voted on Prop 10, which would have lifted state regulations on rent control and allowed local jurisdictions to set their own policies. It did not pass.

More recently, in March of 2019, the San Diego City Council voted and approved a reform to parking standards on housing units near public transit with the goal of reducing housing costs associated with mandated parking spots and relieve traffic by encouraging residents to use public transit.

Subsidized housing programs:

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 programs help low income citizens find housing by paying the difference between the market price of a home and 30% of the renter's income. According to the San Diego Housing Commission, Section 8 housing vouchers are the city's largest affordable housing program and were responsible for helping to fill 14,698 homes in the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

The San Diego Housing Commission currently owns 2,221 affordable housing units and plans to expand that number in the future to meet the growing demand.

Recent policies to create more affordable housing:

In 2009, the San Diego Housing Commission implemented a finance plan that created 810 more units of affordable rental housing through leveraging the equity of its owned properties.

The conversion of city-owned buildings into low-income affordable housing was made possible by an agreement made with the Department of Housing and Urban Development in September 2007. The cost of rent and availability of these units for residents will remain consistent, as the city has put in place provisions to make them affordable for at least 55 years. Additionally, because of a concern that the people who need these housing units might be crowded out, the units are only available to residents with an income cap of 80% of the San Diego median.

In 2017, the new Atmosphere building downtown drew attention when it announced that it would be offering 205 apartments to low-income San Diego residents. Residents pay their portion of rent through Section 8 vouchers, and many of the apartments are available only to families who make 30% or less of the median income of the city.

The main idea behind the new housing project was to provide a low-rent area for residents who work downtown but who are unable to live near their workplace because of the high costs.

Grand County, Colorado:

Affordable housing is a problem that is affecting people nationwide, including Grand County, Colorado. According to research by Rubin and Ponser (2018), “In 2016, the median renter in the bottom quartile had only $488 left per month after rent for essentials like food, health care, utilities, and transportation”.

A lack of affordable housing can be a serious problem for people, as overpaying for housing leaves families with little leftover to spend on other essentials like food and clothing. Grand County could benefit from increasing the amount of affordable housing that is available in the area.

The increase of housing would allow local families to rent housing at a more affordable price, hopefully reducing stress for people. It would also attract new people to the area and provide jobs for local companies that build the housing, helping to stimulate the local economy.

The increased housing would also help local businesses by making more housing available for workers. Overall, the housing could help Grand County and its residents to be a more livable and profitable community.

Housing Prices in Colorado:

Colorado has seen a unique problem in housing crisis due to an imbalance in supply and demand but specifically it has been tied to supply of affordable housing to meet the demands. Colorado Springs alone is expected to hit shortages in housing of 26,000 units by 2019 and the builders are simply unable to meet the demands.

The important thing to note is that the situation in Colorado is unique because it isn't the lack of supply driving up the prices, but Colorado has a lack of supply specifically in affordability.

Colorado has one of the slowest markets for houses in the upper price rangers, and one of the fastest in the affordable index. The state is also plagued with one of the slowest build rates in the United States due to state's strict zoning laws around the metropolitan areas and a slow network of suppliers. Another strong issue to consider is the lack of ease and increasing costs of building homes.

With tight margins for profits, it is difficult for builders to justify building large volumes of affordable homes instead of building luxury homes. The state government has acknowledged this problem and has decided to continue to work with builders in providing incentives to building a diverse range of homes in terms of pricing. The legislation and loosening the boundaries will need to come with some form of checks and balances to ensure that builders are utilizing it for its intended purpose of providing affordable housing and not simply continue the trend for housing.

The argument consisting of alerting potential buyers of a 'bubble' in Colorado is false. A bubble for housing market is formed when there is an overabundance of supplies yet increasing prices. Colorado does not have this issue, rather it has significant amount of homes for sale, just not enough buyers in all segments and yet the housing prices have continued to increase.

​The number of buyers has continued to trend down, and the prices of homes has continued to trend up. The increase in house prices are thus not at any risk of a bubble, rather the resolution to this issue is, as mentioned above, an intervention from the state to either provide legislative mandates to diversify the homes being built to price points with a special focus on affordability or provide incentives to builders to continue building affordable housing. The concerns with supplies will also need to be tackled, but all of these issues ultimately do rest on the state performing certain actions to change the portfolio of homes in Colorado.

See also:







Habitat for Humanity (Website @ www.habitat.org)Pictured below: High-Performance Affordable Housing with Habitat for Humanity - Building America Top Innovation (Energy.gov)
​Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or simply Habitat, is an international, non-governmental, and nonprofit organization, which was founded in 1976 by Linda and Millard Fuller.

Habitat for Humanity is a Christian organization. The international operational headquarters are located in Americus, Georgia, United States, with the administrative headquarters located in Atlanta. As of 2020, Habitat for Humanity operates in all 50 U.S. states and more than 70 countries.

Community-level Habitat offices act in partnership with and on behalf of Habitat for Humanity International. In the United States, these local offices are called Habitat affiliates; outside the United States, Habitat operations are managed by national offices.

Each affiliate and national office is an independently run, nonprofit organization. Affiliates and national offices coordinate all aspects of Habitat home building in their local area, including fundraising, building site selection, partner family selection and support, house construction, and mortgage servicing.

The mission statement of Habitat for Humanity is "Seeking to put God's love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope".

Homes are built using volunteer labor and Habitat makes no profit on the sales. In some locations outside the United States, Habitat for Humanity charges interest to protect against inflation. This policy has been in place since 1986.

Habitat has helped more than 29 million people construct, rehabilitate or preserve homes since its founding in 1976. As of 2013, Habitat was the largest not-for-profit builder in the world.

Qualifications for Home Ownership:
​
According to the official website:
"The affiliate's family selection committee chooses homeowners based on their level of need, their willingness to become partners in the program and their ability to repay the loan. Every affiliate follows a nondiscriminatory policy of family selection. Neither race nor religion is a factor in choosing the families who receive Habitat houses":

There are several checks and balances in place to protect both Habitat and the potential homeowner:
  • Habitat for Humanity performs an extensive background check on potential homeowners, including character references, employer interviews, and audit of finances. The applicants are required to sign release forms authorizing Habitat for Humanity to perform this background check. This ensures that Habitat's risk is reasonable when selling a home and that the applicant family is in a suitable financial position to take on the responsibility of a mortgage.
  • There are typically a First and a Second Mortgage. The Second Mortgage is put in place to protect any equity that is left that is not captured in the first mortgage. The homeowners pay down the first mortgage, and after a stated period of time (which varies from affiliate to affiliate) of living in the same home, the Second Mortgage is forgiven (however, it is not always forgiven). However, The Right of First Refusal stays in force until the mortgage is paid in full.
  • Homeowners are usually expected to put approximately 500 hours of "sweat equity" into their own or other project homes, although this amount may vary by location, the number of wage-earning adults in each family, and the recipients' health issues. This sweat equity acts as the down payment on the home. Every hour spent earning this sweat equity must be approved and signed off on by an official Habitat for Humanity representative. Sweat equity has no monetary value and cannot be 'refunded'.
  • Once construction on the home is finished and the sweat equity is completed in full, the homeowner purchases the home with a 0% to 2% interest mortgage (in the United States). With monthly payments (including taxes and insurance) that do not exceed 30% of the household's monthly income.
  • Mortgage payments from homeowners are deposited into a locally administered "Fund for Humanity", the proceeds of which go toward future construction. In an effort to discourage predatory lenders from targeting Habitat homeowner families, mortgage agreements require the Habitat for Humanity affiliate the right of first refusal. Until the mortgage is paid in full, a Habitat home has no equity and can only be sold back to Habitat for Humanity. Should a homeowner family decide to sell their home during the period of their mortgage, the affiliate will buy it back at market value. Often affiliates will have a shared appreciation model that will allow the affiliate to recapture a portion of the equity in the home depending on the time the family lived in the home and paid on the mortgage.
  • The typically no interest mortgage payments permit a family the freedom to manage their finances more effectively, the end goal being to provide a 'hand up' and not a 'hand out' as it were. In some locations, attendance at money management courses is mandatory for potential homeowners.

Building and other affiliate operations:
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Habitat relies on volunteer labor in order to construct simple and affordable homes with its partner families, as well as to build community and civil society in the areas in which it works.

Many churches and other houses of worship (synagogues, temples, mosques etc.) sponsor houses and provide a large amount of the volunteers from their congregations.

Some corporations and businesses that value good corporate citizenship provide financial support to the projects and/or donate materials for use in construction. Many politicians and celebrities have volunteered with Habitat, reflecting its profile as a highly regarded non-profit.

Green building:

Habitat builds simple houses with locally appropriate materials. In many communities, Habitat affiliates and national offices are exploring areas of green building, including energy efficiency and sustainability. In the United States, many affiliates are building homes that are LEED certified. In 2010, Habitat for Humanity Tajikistan won a national Global Energy Award for their resource-saving bio-sand water filter project.

Tithe:

Habitat affiliates and national offices contribute a percentage of the unrestricted funds they raise locally to be used in building homes by a Habitat national office overseas. For instance, Habitat New Zealand's tithe helps to support an equal number of housing outcomes abroad, predominantly in the Pacific region.

Charging interest:

Habitat homeowners in the United States and Canada pay no interest on their no-profit mortgages. Some Habitat for Humanity affiliates outside the United States adjust the no-profit loans to compensate for the inflation rate in their area, with the goal that "the repayments from one house should ideally build another house of the same design".

Habitat ReStores:

Habitat ReStores are retail outlets that sell new and used building and household materials donated by small businesses, large companies, job sites, and individuals. Proceeds from ReStores help local affiliates fund the construction of Habitat houses within the community.

Many affiliates across the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand operate successful ReStores‍—‌some of which raise enough funds to build an additional 10 or more houses per year. Many ReStores cover the administrative costs of the Habitat affiliate so that 100% of donor funds can be put toward home construction and rehabilitation projects.

Ongoing programs:

Habitat for Humanity International develops and supports special programs to engage volunteers from all walks of life in Habitat's mission and work.

Solid Ground:

Solid Ground is a global advocacy campaign of Habitat for Humanity International focused on improving access to land for shelter. The Solid Ground campaign has four sub-themes: secure tenure, gender equality, slum upgrading, and disaster resilience.

Through the Solid Ground campaign, Habitat for Humanity and partner organizations are working in 37 countries around the world to change land policy and systems at all levels of government.

A Brush With Kindness:

Habitat for Humanity's A Brush With Kindness is a locally operated program serving low-income homeowners who struggle to maintain the exterior of their homes. The program is a holistic approach to providing affordable housing and assisting communities as well as families. Groups of volunteers help homeowners with exterior maintenance. This typically includes painting, minor exterior repairs, landscaping, weatherization and exterior clean-up.

Global Village Trips:

As suggested by the name, Habitat for Humanity International places a strong emphasis on building homes around the world. Volunteers today can build with Habitat affiliates in many locations on Global Village Trips.

After having gone through training, trip leaders organize travel plans with the support of the Americus-headquartered Global Village Department, first formally established in 1988. Participants from all over are then able to register for trips to their destination of choice.

Teams generally number between eight and fifteen, with trips usually lasting between nine and fourteen days.

According to the website, Global Village Trips offer volunteers the opportunity:
to experience another culture while making a difference in the lives of others ... work alongside members of the host community in building decent, affordable housing ... [and]help raise awareness of the burden of poverty housing and create a true global village of love, community, homes and hope.

National Service:

National Service refers to national service programs that are funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The goal of the Habitat for Humanity National Service program is to help local Habitat affiliates operate more efficiently and effectively by maximizing existing volunteers, increasing capacity for new volunteers and most importantly, meeting the housing needs of communities by building more houses for low-income families.

​AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that engage more than 75,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in education, public safety, health and the environment. Habitat for Humanity International was one of the first nonprofits contacted by the Corporation for National and Community Service when AmeriCorps was being formed in 1993.

In the 2008–2009 program year, over 500 AmeriCorps members at affiliates all over the country will help build nearly 2,000 houses and recruit and retain nearly 200,000 community volunteers. Those volunteers will provide an estimated 1,600,000 volunteer hours. The members themselves will contribute 850,000 hours.

RV Care-A-Vanners:

RV Care-A-Vanners is a volunteer program in which volunteers travel in their personal recreational vehicles, making stops at local Habitat affiliates to assist in house construction and renovations. RV Care-A-Vanner volunteers each pay their own expenses, which may be tax deductible.

Many RV Care-A-Vanners help local Habitat affiliates raise the awareness of poverty housing and homelessness by speaking to churches, civic groups and local media. Individual Care-A-Vanners often make donations to their local Habitat affiliate and some even organize fund-raising teams and sponsor entire houses.

Women Build:

Originating in 1991 with a Charlotte, North Carolina home built entirely by a crew of female volunteers, Habitat's Women Build program encourages women to make a difference by building homes and communities. Women Build projects provide an environment in which women can feel comfortable learning construction skills they might not otherwise have the opportunity to learn. Globally, more than 1,400 homes have been completed by Women Build volunteers.

Women all over the United States participate in National Women Build Week. The week-long build leading up to Mother's Day is designed to showcase the skills of Women Build volunteers and to motivate new volunteers to help families and change communities.

Lowe's is a major sponsor and underwriter of Women Build, and has generously supported each National Women Build Week. In addition to competitive grant opportunities, Lowe's offers a series of free how-to clinics for U.S. Women Build affiliates.

Youth Programs:

Habitat for Humanity's Youth Programs seek to involve young people, ages 5 to 25, in Habitat's mission and work. In accordance with U.S. federal guidelines, youth must be at least 16 years old to be on an active construction site, and must be 18 years old to engage in certain build activities.

Habitat's Youth Programs include programs such as the following:

Campus chapters: A campus chapter is a student-led, student-initiated organization on a high school or college campus that partners with the local Habitat affiliate to fulfill the four functions of a campus chapter. The four functions of a campus chapter are: building, fundraising, advocating and educating.

Collegiate Challenge: Habitat for Humanity runs a year-round alternative break program known as Collegiate Challenge for student groups age 16 to 25. Although summer, fall, and winter break trips are available, most participants go during their spring break.

Collegiate Challenge participants travel to host sites throughout the United States and spend one week working in partnership with the local Habitat affiliate, the local community, and partner families to help eliminate poverty housing in the area. Host affiliates provide housing for the groups, as well as a place to shower and cook meals for the week.

More than 14,000 volunteers took part in Collegiate Challenge in 2011, making it one of the world's largest alternative break programs. Since its inception in 1989, nearly 240,000 students have participated in Collegiate Challenge and have donated more than $25 million to Habitat for Humanity affiliates.

Learn and Build Experience: For one week during the summer, students ages 16 to 18 can experience Habitat's work outside of their communities. In addition to a week of building, students also learn about the need for Habitat through educational activities.

Youth United: Youth United is a Habitat for Humanity program run by youth and for youth ages 5 to 25. It brings young people together from all walks of life to play active roles in transforming their communities. Youth United mobilizes young people to sponsor and build a house with their local Habitat affiliate.

Annual events:

Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project
Main article: Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter became involved with Habitat for Humanity in 1984 and has since become its highest profile proponent. He has been involved in fund-raising and publicity as well as actual home-building, taking part in the annual Jimmy Carter Work Project "blitz build".

In 2008, Habitat for Humanity celebrated the 25th annual building project with the Carters and renamed it to include Mrs. Carter. The Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project focused on supporting the Gulf Coast community seeking to rebuild after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Despite periodic downpours, volunteers got most of the work done during one week in June to finish building and fixing 60 houses and frame 48 more.

In November 2009, volunteers joined Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in the Mekong River region of Southeast Asia. Houses were built in the countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Yunnan Province in China. The week-long project served nearly 166 families. It also began a five-year Habitat for Humanity initiative to work with 50,000 families across the five countries.

Home Builders Blitz:

During Home Builders Blitz 2008, more than 1,000 building industry professionals in 110 Habitat for Humanity affiliates built 263 new homes across the United States. This was the second national Home Builders Blitz program, which was begun on the local level in 2002 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Since then, the professional homebuilders industry has supported Habitat by building more than 800 homes.

Tom Gipson, a Habitat volunteer and professional homebuilder who started the Home Builder's Blitz program, was named the "Ultimate Volunteer" in a 2009 contest by ABC's The View.

Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps Build-a-Thon:

The AmeriCorps Build-a-Thon is an annual signature event that brings together AmeriCorps members and alumni in a week long blitz build. The Build-a-Thon provides the host affiliate an opportunity to advance and highlight local house-building efforts. It also serves as an annual meeting of AmeriCorps volunteers who might otherwise lack any opportunity to meet.

The event is held across the United States and highlights a different Habitat affiliate each year. In the past, Build-a-Thons have occurred in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; the Gulf Coast; Dallas, Texas; Mobile County, Alabama; and Jacksonville, Florida.

The 2010, Habitat AmeriCorps Build-a-Thon was held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, hosted by Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity. This was the second consecutive year that Cedar Valley

Habitat hosted the event. More than 500 Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps National and AmeriCorps VISTA members from across the country came together to build, rehabilitate and repair more than 20 homes. In 2015, the Build-a-Thon was held in New Orleans in remembrance of Hurricane Katrina.

Other special initiatives:

Habitat's Gulf Coast Recovery:

Habitat initiated a special program to help restore housing to the areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The effort was focused on getting local affiliates in the area back on their feet and prepared to build for their communities. It also became a catalyst for other organizations, like the St. Bernard Project, corporations and the government to provide help and support in rebuilding the area and has received considerable national media attention. Habitat restored around 300 homes for Katrina efforts.

As part of Operation Home Delivery, housing components were assembled in nearby less-affected locations such as Jackson, Mississippi, allowing much of the construction to be accomplished while basic infrastructure was being restored. Pre-constructed components were then shipped to the affected areas and built at a faster rate. Within two months of the time of the disaster, construction had begun on houses in the Louisiana cities of Covington and Slidell, near New Orleans.

Harry Connick Jr., and Branford Marsalis served as honorary chairs of Habitat's hurricane rebuilding program, and one of the many projects along the Gulf Coast is the Musicians' Village at New Orleans Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat's Efforts in Haiti:
Main article: 2010 Haiti earthquake

On 12 January 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti just 10 miles west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The earthquake damaged almost 190,000 houses, of which 105,000 were entirely devastated. Of the more than two million affected survivors, 500,000 are still displaced today.

Soon after the earthquake, Habitat set a goal of serving 50,000 families over five years, helping them move toward safe, secure and permanent places to call home.

Habitat has reached numerous milestones after the earthquake including over 155 houses as well as another 100 houses planned to be built starting 23 November of this year. Aside from direct building of housing, more than 4,000 families received transitional or upgraded shelters, more than 350 houses were repaired and rehabilitated, more than 24,500 emergency shelter kits were distributed, and more than 12,000 damage assessments were conducted (Habitat For Humanity International).

During this time, an entire community was transformed and lives were changed. More than 4,450 Haiti citizens were trained in construction techniques, financial literacy, disaster risk reduction and business development, which resulted in job opportunities for over 700 Haitians (Habitat For Humanity International).

Habitat's Bangladesh Restoration:

Habitat played an integral in the restoration of Bangladesh after Cyclone Sidr devastated 31 districts. A partnership with Japan Platform to help build transitional shelters was on-going when the disaster hit in November 2007. All phases of this project completed at the end of February 2009.

Habitat responded to the cyclone by pledging $250000 to provide technical assistance. Prior to the construction of transitional homes, immediate necessities such as food, water and medicine were distributed to affected families.

A Habitat Resource Center was built in phase one for technical planning, coordination and management of the entire project. It also served as the manufacturing and storage center for construction materials. A total of 480 houses were built at the end of a 3 phase construction process. Each house was provided with proper sanitation using contributions from UNICEF Bangladesh and HFH Great Britain.

These transitional shelters were designed to be built by volunteers and unskilled workers in about eight hours on an area that had been prepared by families. This shelter provides a strong and cyclone-resistant core structure to protect residents from severe weather.

Extensions to the home when the family has the financial means can be done by adding walling to the existing structure.

In bid to raise the local awareness of these transitional homes, HFH Bangladesh organized a series of training and familiarisation workshops for locals. 16 sessions were held between March and December 2008.

In total, 12 communities were worked on by HFH Bangladesh. Structures had been built in the regions of Ghotoker Andua, Andua, Kalagachiya, Pipra Khali and Mirzaganj villages in Mirzaganj Union. In the Amragachia Union the regions of Uttar Amragachia, Dakkhin Amragachia, Shoilabunia, Kismat Shoilabunia and Amragachi villages also had structures built there.

Making it Better in the Long Term with Solar

There are many projects that go hand in hand with the house building projects that allow these homes to supply their own electricity through the use of solar energy. U.S. companies such as Pacific Gas and Electric Company have partnered with Habitat for Humanity to provide complete solar grids for several homes.

Other solar projects, mostly in the U.S., like one in San Francisco, as well as efforts of individual citizens are trying to make a difference by raising funds to get more solar homes built.

Who Says You Can't Go Home:

The video for rock band Bon Jovi's song "Who Says You Can't Go Home" features Habitat for Humanity volunteers as well as the band building homes as part of Habitat for Humanity in Philadelphia, close to Bon Jovi's native New Jersey. It reflects Jon Bon Jovi's dedication to the organization and highlights the importance of community unity, faith, and involvement.

The popularity of Bon Jovi increased Habitat's exposure and influenced new volunteers to donate their time and money to Habitat.

Habitat Bicycle Challenge:

The Habitat Bicycle Challenge (HBC), a nine-week, coast-to-coast bicycle trip undertaken to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven and to increase awareness of Habitat for Humanity in general, took place annually from 1995 to 2007.

Prior to embarking in June on the 4,000-mile (6,400 km) trek, participants engaged in a seven-month fundraising campaign for Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven.

Once on the road, they served as roaming advertisements for Habitat and gave nightly presentations explaining Habitat's mission to their hosts, usually church congregations. They also took part in builds with local Habitat chapters along the way.

At its height, HBC attracted about 90 participants a year, all aged 18 to 24 and about half coming from Yale University. Each rider traveled one of three routes: New Haven to San Francisco, New Haven to Portland, or New Haven to Seattle.

By 2004 HBC had become the single largest yearly fundraiser for any Habitat affiliate in the world, raising about $400,000 a year. However, amid growing safety concerns, Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven was forced to announce the cancellation of HBC in September 2007.

Bike and Build, a similar program, was founded in 2002 by a former HBC rider. Though not directly affiliated with Habitat for Humanity, it carries on the legacy of the Habitat Bicycle Challenge.

Appetite for Construction Tour:

In the fall of 2007, alternative rock bands Switchfoot and Relient K went on the Appetite for Construction Tour, partnering with Habitat while raising awareness for the organization and donating a dollar per ticket sold. The tour was highly successful, raising over US$100,000 for donation to the cause.

The Wall Project:

Wesley College, Melbourne is carrying out a joint fundraising and awareness program through theatrical production and is aiming to raise money to build education facilities in Afghanistan.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Habitat for Humanity:







Home Construction, including a List of Construction Trades Pictured below: The Same House under construction as covered on the first Video Above:
Home construction is the process of constructing a home. Beginning with simple pre-historic shelters, home construction techniques have evolved to produce the vast multitude of living accommodations available today.

Different levels of wealth and power have warranted various sizes, luxuries, and even defenses in a "home". Environmental considerations and cultural influences have created an immensely diverse collection of architectural styles.

From castles to mud thatches, mansions to shanties, the 'home' has grown to represent a seemingly limitless array of structures.

History:

While homes may have originated in pre-history, there are many notable stages through which cultures pass to reach the current level of modernization. Countries and communities throughout the world currently exhibit very diverse concepts of housing, at many different stages of home development.

Finding or buying parts:

Two methods for constructing a home can be distinguished:
  1. the method in which architects simply assume free choice of materials and parts, and the method in which reclaimed materials are used, and the house is thus during its entire construction a "work in progress" (meaning every single aspect of it is subject to change at any given time, depending on what materials are found).
  2. ​The second method has been used throughout history, as materials have always been scarce.

Specifications:

Civil Site Plans, Architectural Drawings and Specifications comprise the document set needed to construct a new home. Specifications consist of a precise description of the materials to be used in construction. Specifications are typically organized by each trade required to construct a home.

The modern family home has many more systems and facets of construction than one might initially believe. With sufficient study, an average person can understand everything there is to know about any given phase of home construction. The do it yourself (DIY) boom of the late twentieth century was due, in large part, to this fact. And an international proliferation of kitset home and prefabricated home suppliers, often consisting of components of Chinese origin has further increased supply and made DIY home building more prevalent.

Procedures:

The process often starts with a planning stage in which plans are prepared by an architect and approved by the client and any regulatory authority. Then the site is cleared, foundations are laid and trenches for connection to services such as sewerage, water, and electricity are established.

If the house is wooden-framed, a framework is constructed to support the boards, siding and roof. If the house is of brick construction, then courses of bricks are laid to construct the walls.

Floors, beams and internal walls are constructed as the building develops, with plumbing and wiring for water and electricity being installed as appropriate. Once the main structure is complete, internal fitting with lights and other fitments is done, and the house may be decorated and furnished with furniture, cupboards, carpets, curtains and other fittings.

Phases:
External construction:
Internal construction:
Finishing construction:
Home Size:

​According to data from the U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics found the average floor area of a home in the United States has steadily increased over the past one hundred years, with an estimated 18.5 square foot increase in the average floor area per year. In 1920, the average floor area was 1,048 square feet (97.4 m2), which rose to 1,500 square feet (140 m2) by 1970 and today sits at around 2,657 square feet (246.8 m2).

Criticism:

Some have criticized the house-building industry. Mass house-builders can be risk averse, preferring cost-efficient building methods rather than adopting new technologies for improved building performance. Traditional vernacular building methods that suit local conditions and climates can be dispensed with in favor of a generic 'cookie cutter' housing type.
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The following is a list of trades in construction for Home Building:
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  • Boilermaker, works in nuclear and fossil power plants, shipyards, refineries and chemical plants, on boilers, pressure vessels, and similar equipment.
  • Carpenter, a craftsperson who performs carpentry, building mainly with wood. Among carpentry's subsidiary trades are those of cabinet maker and millworker, including:
    • cladder, 
    • framer, 
    • joiner,
    • deck builder,
    • furniture maker,
    • interior trim carpenter,
    • exterior trim carpenter,
    • siding installer,
    • and even a coffin maker.
  • Carpenters unions usually include drywall installer, lather (wire mesh molding), flooring installer, pile driver, millwright (machinery installer), diver, and diver tender.
  • Carpet layer and linoleum flooring, one who specializes in laying carpet and linoleum floor covering.
  • Dredger, may include Lead Dredgeman, Operator, Leverman, Licensed Tug Operator, Derrick Operator, Spider/Spill Barge Operator, Engineer, Electrician, Chief Welder, Chief Mate, Fill Placer, Operator II, Maintenance Engineer, Licensed Boat Operator, Certified Welder, Mate, Drag Barge Operator, Steward, Assistant Fill Placer, Welder, Boat Operator, Shoreman, Deckhand, Rodman, Scowman, Cook, Messman, Porter/Janitor, and Oiler.
  • Electrician, specializing in electrical wiring of buildings and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the construction of new buildings or maintenance of existing electrical infrastructure, they can also install A/C and Telecommunications systems.
  • Elevator mechanic installs vertical lift and transporting equipment.
  • Fencer, a tradesperson who builds fences.
  • Glazier, installs glass.
  • Heavy equipment operator, a driver and operator of heavy equipment used in engineering and construction projects. There are special function titles, such as Bargeman, Brakeman, Compressor operator, Elevator operator, Engineer Oiler, Forklift operator, Generator, Pump or Compressor plant operator, Signalman, Switchman, Conveyor operator, Fireman, Skiploader operator, Helicopter radioman, Boring machine operator, Boxman or mixerman, Asphalt plant engineer, Batch plant operator, Bit sharpener, Micro tunnel system operator, Pavement breaker operator, Drill Doctor, Drilling machine operator, Rotary drill operator, Canal liner operator, Canal trimmer operator, and Concrete boom pump operator.
  • Insulation installer. Includes application of all insulating materials, protective coverings, coatings and finishes to all types of mechanical systems. Also Hazardous Material Handler (for HazMat see Laborer).
  • Ironworker (or steel erector, often includes welder), erects or dismantles structural steel frames. Structural steel installation is usually crane-assisted. Workers rely on mobile, elevated platforms or scissor lifts. Ironworkers bolt the steelwork together using various tools, power tools and manual tools. Metallic Lathers may be included in this category.
  • Laborer, a skilled worker proficient with pneumatic tools, hand tools, blasting, smaller heavy equipment. Laborers may also assist other tradespeople.
  • Landscaper, a tradesperson who specializes in landscaping (see Laborer).
  • Linemen, high voltage line and substation construction and maintenance trade; includes trade titles under power line technicians: Electrician, Digger Machine Operator, Groundsman (unskilled electrician waiting to enter the apprenticeship).
  • Mason, a tradesperson skilled variously in brick and blocklaying, concrete finishing (the placement, finishing, protecting and repairing of concrete in construction projects). Also stonemason, marble setter and polisher, tile setter and polisher, terrazzo worker and finisher. Hod carrier is a subsidiary trade (also see Laborer).
  • Millwright installs various industrial equipment.
  • Painter, a tradesperson responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator or house painter. Also includes Paper Hanger.
  • Pile driver, a tradesperson who installs piles, drills shafts, and constructs certain foundation support elements.
  • Pipefitter (or steamfitter), a person who lays out, assembles, fabricates, maintains, and repairs large-sized piping systems capable of enabling high-pressure flow.
  • Plasterer, a tradesperson who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls.
  • Plumber, a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for plumbing(drain systems), heating, drainage, fire fighting, potable (drinking) water or small-sized industrial process plant piping.
  • Sheet metal worker, also known as a Mechanical Worker, A person who installs Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems (HVAC), duct work, and exhaust systems for kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, furnaces, etc. They also install gas lines and gas piping to a variety of appliances in homes and different types of businesses.
  • Sign display worker.
  • Steel fixer ("ironworker" USA, also "rodbuster" USA/Australia), a tradesperson who positions and secures reinforcing bars and mesh used to reinforce concrete on construction projects. This trade is usually included with Ironworkers.
  • Teamster, operator of highway trucks used to haul heavy loads on paved roadways.
  • Waterproofer, also see roof and roofer.
  • Welder, a tradesperson who specializes in welding.

​Among the construction trades, in most industrialized counties, each has a distinct 4-year craft apprenticeship education and usually once started a worker remains in a single craft and progresses through ranks of skill for the duration of their career (pre-apprentice, apprentice, and journeyman; some countries include a post-journeyman 'master' level, which in other countries is a company title like leadman, foreman, and superintendent). While not as formalized in laws as in industrialized counties, the same situation is true through craft traditions in non-industrialized countries.

See also:







Rent to Own Homes  Pictured below: Rent-to-own Home Process
[Your WebHost: this topic focuses on rent to buy only as it applies to home renting/purchasing]:

Rent-to-own, also known as rental-purchase or Rent-To-Buy, is a type of legally documented transaction under which tangible property, such as furniture, consumer electronics, motor vehicles, home appliances, real property (e.g., a House), and engagement rings, is leased in exchange for a weekly or monthly payment, with the option to purchase at some point during the agreement.

A rent-to-own transaction differs from a traditional lease, in that the lessee can purchase the leased item at any time during the agreement (in a traditional lease the lessee has no such right), and from a hire purchase/installment plan, in that the lessee can terminate the agreement by simply returning the property (in a hire purchase the buyer has a limited time, if any, to cancel the agreement).

The usage of rent-to-own transactions began in the United Kingdom and Europe, and first appeared in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. While rent-to-own terminology is most commonly associated with consumer goods transactions, the term is sometimes used in connection with real estate transactions. The newest law coming into effect known as "Physical control" is a progression towards owning something such as a parcel of land.

Real Estate:
​
While rent-to-own transactions are most commonly conducted for purchasing consumer goods at a retail store, this term also describes a specialized real estate agreement.

The rent-to-own housing option is typically exercised more often during housing market downturns, such as the late 2000s (decade) financial crisis.

Because the most recent housing market downturn was accompanied by protective regulatory scrutiny of lending practices and consumer credit agencies, acquiring a loan has become more difficult for Subprime borrowers.

Some have opined that residential home rental may become the new normal, whereas proponents of rent-to-own real estate agreements argue otherwise.

Imperfect credit scores:

Tenant/buyers who have imperfect credit scores are typically drawn to rent-to-own properties since the lease terms allow them to live in the home while they take the steps necessary to fix their credit and secure a mortgage.

Most lease purchase agreements allow them to lock in a market rate when they sign the contract. People with poor credit find the leasing period a crucial opportunity to repair their financial profile to secure a loan.

A common complaint tenant/buyers have with rent-to-own agreements, however, stems from their inability to secure a loan in time to purchase the property, whether due to insufficient downpayment or credit, at which point they are left to restructure the agreement or forced to walk away.

Transaction structure:

In a rent-to-own transaction, the tenant lives on the real property and pay towards purchasing the property at a fixed price within a specific period of time, usually one to three years. As part of the contract, the renter may be required to make a nonrefundable deposit, that is  often included as part of a down payment at the end of the lease term.

In addition to monthly rent, often an additional amount called a rent credit is paid into an escrow account during the lease period. This amount is added to the deposit and used as part of the down payment at the end of the lease term. This pushes the rent above the market rate but helps build savings for purchase if the buy option is taken.

At the end of the lease term, the tenant is offered right of first refusal to purchase the property at the agreed upon sale price, or walk away and forfeit the deposit. If the tenant is unable or unwilling to exercise the option to buy, the owner is then free to rent or sell the property to another buyer, or to restructure the contract.

Scams:

Because rent-to-own real estate contracts are flexible open-source documents, there is room for scammers to take advantage of unprepared tenants. Rent-to-own proponents recommend consulting licensed realtors and/or real estate lawyers for every step throughout your transaction for your safety.

​See also:







​Renting an Apartment in the United States, including Types of Apartments and Rent Control Pictured below (Clockwise from Upper Left):
An apartment is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies only part of a building, generally on a single story. There are many names for these overall buildings, see below. The housing tenure of apartments also varies considerably, from large-scale public housing, to owner occupancy within what is legally a condominium, to tenants renting from a private landlord (see leasehold estate).

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about  Renting an Apartment: ___________________________________________________________________________

Types of Apartments: An alphabetical Listing:​

B: C: E: G: H: L: M: O: P: R: S: T: W: ___________________________________________________________________________

Rent Control in the United States:
​
​Rent control in the United States refers to laws or ordinances that set price controls on the renting of American residential housing. They function as a price ceiling.

The loose term "rent control" can apply to several types of price control:
  • "strict price ceilings", also known as "rent freeze" systems, or "absolute" or "first generation" rent controls, in which no increases in rent are allowed at all (rent is typically frozen at the rate existing when the law was enacted)
  • "vacancy control", also known as "strict" or "strong" rent control, in which the rental price can rise, but continues to be regulated in between tenancies (a new tenant pays almost the same rent as the previous tenant) and
  • "vacancy decontrol", also known as "tenancy" or "second-generation" rent control, which limits price increases during a tenancy, but allows rents to rise to market rate between tenancies (new tenants pay market rate rent, but increases are limited as long as they remain).

As of 2018, four states (California, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland) and the District of Columbia have localities in which some form of residential rent control is in effect (for normal structures, excluding mobile homes). Thirty-seven states either prohibit or preempt rent control, while nine states allow their cities to enact rent control, but have no cities that have implemented it.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Rent Control in the United States:




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Home Owners Association (HOA) (Beware of  Common-interest developments) Pictured below: Joining an HOA? There Will Be Hell to Pay (All of the downright dreadful things you need know if you’re buying a property governed by a homeowners association -- Wall Street Journal)
Homeowner Associations:

​In the United States, a homeowner association (or homeowners’ association, abbreviated HOA, sometimes referred to as a property owners’ association or POA) is a private association often formed by a real estate developer for the purpose of marketing, managing, and selling homes and lots in a residential subdivision.

Typically the developer will transfer control of the association to the homeowners after selling a predetermined number of lots. Generally any person who wants to buy a residence within the area of a homeowners association must become a member, and therefore must obey the governing documents including Articles of Incorporation, CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions) and By-Laws, which may limit the owner's choices.

Homeowner associations are especially active in urban planning, zoning and land use, decisions that affect the pace of growth, the quality of life, the level of taxation and the value of land in the community.

Most homeowner associations are incorporated, and are subject to state statutes that govern non-profit corporations and homeowner associations. State oversight of homeowner associations is minimal, and it varies from state to state.

Some states, such as Florida and California, have a large body of HOA law. Other states, such as Massachusetts, have virtually no HOA law. Homeowners associations are commonly found in residential developments since the passage of the Davis–Stirling Common Interest Development Act in 1985.

The fastest-growing form of housing in the United States today are common-interest developments (CIDs), a category that includes planned unit developments of single-family homes, condominiums, and cooperative apartments.

Since 1964, HOAs have become increasingly common in the United States. The Community Associations Institute trade association estimated that in 2010, HOAs governed 24.8 million American homes and 62 million residents.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Homeowners Associations: ___________________________________________________________________________

​Common-interest developments

Common-interest development (CID) is the fastest growing form of housing in the world today. They include condominiums, community apartments, planned developments, and stock cooperatives. 

A CID's ownership benefits are having rights to an undivided interest in common areas and amenities that might prove to be too expensive to be solely owned. For example, an owner would like to have a pool but cannot afford one. When buying a condominium (see above) with a pool in a CID of one hundred units, an owner would have use of that pool for basically one-hundredth of the cost due to sharing the cost with the other 99 owners. 

Timeshare, or vacation ownership, is the same concept. Buying a second home for vacation purposes might not be financially possible; buying a week or two can be when sharing the overall costs with other participants.

Within the United States, when a CID is developed, the developer is required to incorporate (in a form) a homeowner association (HOA) prior to any property sales. The role of the HOA is to manage the CID once the control is transferred from the developer.

The HOA governs the CID based upon the incorporated covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) which were recorded when the property was subdivided. The CC&Rs will outline the financial budgeting guideline for the HOA in determining the dollar amount in maintenance fees for assessing the owners. In a wholly owned CID, maintenance fees would normally be assessed on a monthly basis.

Growth in the United States:
​According to the Community Associations Institute, between 22 and 24 percent of the entire U.S. population in 2017 lived in community associations. The two leading states with CIDs are California, where around 9,327,000 people lived in a CID, and Florida, where about 9,753,000 lived in a Community Interest Development.

Criticisms:

In his 2019 Devane Lecture series at Yale University, Professor Ian Shapiro identified three primary threats to American democracy posed by the spread of CIDs.

Undemocratic Boards:

The CID Boards are often undemocratic. HOA board members are selected prior to the construction of the development and are only very rarely elected to their positions. However, in their communities, they take on the responsibilities and functions of municipal government officials.

Effects on homelessness:

"As seen in Albert O. Hirschman's Exit, Voice, and Loyalty, there are problems here about entry, because if all of the housing in parts of the country are built in these developments and can pick [the type of consumers they will] serve, what about homeless people? Where are homeless people going to wind up? They're going to wind up on the streets of San Francisco or somewhere like that.

Because if you want to buy into one of these residences, they don't want you unless they can ensure you can pay. You're going to go through financial screening. You're going to have to prove you can afford to live in the place. People who can't are going to wind up not getting served. If you try to do housing through this type of market, there's going to be a market failure that's probably going to be quite costly for governments."

Segmented Democracy:

"Douglas W. Rae has an essay titled Democratic Liberty and the Tyrannies of Place, which points to the fact that we're becoming an increasingly segmented democracy. That is, people tend to spend time around people that are like themselves. Of course, CIDs greatly facilitate that because people will sort by income or go to the ones in Florida, often by ethnic group - into these relatively homogenous certainly financially homogenous, groups.

​We know from Cass R. Sunstein that like-minded people, if they talk to one another, tend to become more extreme. So if we get an increasingly segmented democracy of people only hanging around people who look and talk like themselves, this will reinforce a lot of the divisions contributing to the polarization of the electorate. This reinforces the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality about people not like themselves."








Homeowners WIKI Pictured below: Realtor's Transaction Flow Chart.
Homeowners Wiki

[Even though this is not a Wikipedia topic, it contains considerable information about becoming a homeowner!]

This wiki is just like Wikipedia but specially tailored for homeowners to share free and useful knowledge from preparing buying a house to buy a house, home improvement, home maintenance, selling a house, renting house and so on. It will also tell you how to find good local contractors / service providers.

Preparing to buy a home
Buying a home
Home Maintenance List
Fix/Improve your home
  • Before making any fix/improvement make sure if a permit is needed or HOA should be notified.

Inside your Home
Outside your Home
Inside and Outside
DIY
Miscellaneous
Building Trades
Home Services - Other
Utilities
Building a new house
Tools and Products
Selling a home
Financial Stuff
For Landlords
Miscelleanous


​




​CondominiumsPictured below: ABOUT AZZURRA CONDOS, Marina Del Rey, CA
A condominium, often shortened to condo, in the United States and in most Canadian provinces, is a type of living space which is similar to an apartment but which is independently sellable and therefore regarded as real estate.

It is where the condominium building structure is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. 

Residential condominiums are frequently constructed as apartment buildings, but there has been an increase in the number of "detached condominiums", which look like single-family homes but in which the yards, building exteriors, and streets are jointly owned and jointly maintained by a community association.

Unlike apartments, which are leased by their tenants, condominium units are owned outright. Additionally, the owners of the individual units also collectively own the common areas of the property, such as hallways, walkways, laundry rooms, etc.; as well as common utilities and amenities, such as the HVAC system, elevators, and so on.

Many shopping malls are industrial condominiums in which the individual retail and office spaces are owned by the businesses that occupy them while the common areas of the mall are collectively owned by all the business entities that own the individual spaces.

The common areas, amenities and utilities are managed collectively by the owners through their association, such as a homeowner association.

Scholars have traced the earliest known use of the condominium form of tenure to a document from first century Babylon. 

In the United States:

The first condominium law passed in the United States was in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1958.

In 1960, the first condominium in the Continental United States was built in Salt Lake City, Utah.  

Section 234 of the Housing Act of 1961 allowed the Federal Housing Administration to insure mortgages on condominiums, leading to a vast increase in the funds available for condominiums, and to condominium laws in every state by 1969.

Many Americans' first widespread awareness of condominium life came not from its largest cities but from South Florida, where developers had imported the condominium concept from Puerto Rico and used it to sell thousands of inexpensive homes to retirees arriving flush with cash from the urban Northern United States.

The primary attraction to this type of ownership is the ability to obtain affordable housing in a highly desirable area that typically is beyond economic reach. Additionally, such properties benefit from having restrictions that maintain and enhance value, providing control over blight that plagues some neighborhoods.

Over the past several decades, the residential condominium industry has been booming in all of the major metropolitan areas such as: Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Austin, Los Angeles, and New York City.

However, in recent years, supply within the condo industry has caught up with demand and sales have slowed. It is now in a slowdown phase.

An alternative form of ownership, popular in parts of the United States but found also in other common law jurisdictions, is housing cooperative, also known as "company share" or "co-op". A Housing Cooperative is where the building has an associated legal company and ownership of shares gives the right to a lease for residence of a unit.

Another form is ground rent (solarium) in which a single landlord retains ownership of the land (solum) but leases the surface rights (superficies) which renew in perpetuity or over a very long term. This is comparable to a civil-law emphyteusis, except that emphyteusis shifts the duties of up-keep and making improvements onto the renter.
​
In the United States, there are several different styles of condominium complexes. For example, a garden condominium complex consists of low-rise buildings built with landscaped grounds surrounding them.

A townhouse condominium complex consists of multi-floor semi-detached homes. In condominium townhouses, the purchaser owns only the interior, while the building itself is owned by a condominium corporation.

The corporation is jointly owned by all the owners, and charges them fees for general maintenance and major repairs. Freehold townhouses are exclusively owned, without any condominium aspects. In the United States this type of ownership is called fee simple.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Condominiums:






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Trailer Parks and own or (rent) Your Own Mobile Home ​Pictured below: Courtesy of HomeNation.com
  • Top: The "Mini" as the least expensive Trailer as Single Wide (420 sq. ft)
  • Center: Samson Double Wide (1,315 sq. ft)
  • Bottom: Hampton Modular Home with optional stairwell
A mobile home (also known as a park home, trailer, trailer home, house trailer, static caravan, RV, residential caravan, motorhome or simply caravan) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer).

Used as permanent homes, or for holiday or temporary accommodation, they are left often permanently or semi-permanently in one place, but can be moved, and may be required to move from time to time for legal reasons.

Mobile homes share the same historic origins as travel trailers, but today the two are very different and furnishings, with travel trailers being used primarily as temporary or vacation homes. Behind the cosmetic work fitted at installation to hide the base, there are strong trailer frames, axles, wheels, and tow-hitches.

History:

In the United States, this form of housing goes back to the early years of cars and motorized highway travel. It was derived from the travel trailer (often referred to during the early years as "house trailers" or "trailer coaches"), a small unit with wheels attached permanently, often used for camping or extended travel.

The original rationale for this type of housing was its mobility. Units were initially marketed primarily to people whose lifestyle required mobility. However, in the 1950s, the homes began to be marketed primarily as an inexpensive form of housing designed to be set up and left in a location for long periods of time or even permanently installed with a masonry foundation.

Previously, units had been eight or less feet in width, but in 1956, the 10-foot (3 m) wide home ("ten-wide") was introduced, along with the new term "mobile home".

The homes were given a rectangular shape, made from pre-painted aluminum panels, rather than the streamlined shape of travel trailers, which were usually painted after assembly. All of this helped increase the difference between these homes and home/travel trailers.

The smaller, "eight-wide" units could be moved simply with a car, but the larger, wider units ("ten-wide", and, later, "twelve-wide") usually required the services of a professional trucking company, and, often, a special moving permit from a state highway department.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the homes were made even longer and wider, making the mobility of the units more difficult. Nowadays, when a factory-built home is moved to a location, it is usually kept there permanently and the mobility of the units has considerably decreased.

In some states, mobile homes have been taxed as personal property if the wheels remain attached, but as real estate, if the wheels are removed. Removal of the tongue and axles may also be a requirement for real estate classification.

Manufactured home:
Main article: Manufactured housing

Mobile homes built in the United States since June 1976, legally referred to as manufactured homes, are required to meet FHA certification requirements and come with attached metal certification tags.

Mobile homes permanently installed on owned land are rarely mortgageable, whereas FHA code manufactured homes are mortgageable through VA, FHA, and Fannie Mae.

Many people who could not afford a traditional site-built home, or did not desire to commit to spending a large sum of money on housing, began to see factory-built homes as a viable alternative for long-term housing needs. The units were often marketed as an alternative to apartment rental.

However, the tendency of the units of this era to depreciate rapidly in resale value made using them as collateral for loans much riskier than traditional home loans.

Terms were usually limited to less than the thirty-year term typical of the general home-loan market, and interest rates were considerably higher. In that way, mobile home loans resembled motor vehicle loans more than traditional home mortgage loans.

Construction and sizes:

Mobile homes come in two major sizes, single-wides and double-wides. Single-wides are 18 feet (5.5 m) or less in width and 90 feet (27 m) or less in length and can be towed to their site as a single unit. Double-wides are 20 feet (6.1 m) or more wide and are 90 feet (27 m) in length or less and are towed to their site in two separate units, which are then joined together. 

Triple-wides and even homes with four, five, or more units are also built but less frequently.

While site-built homes are rarely moved, single-wide owners often "trade" or sell their home to a dealer in the form of the reduction of the purchase of a new home. These "used" homes are either re-sold to new owners or to park owners who use them as inexpensive rental units.

Single-wides are more likely to be traded than double-wides because removing them from the site is easier. In fact, only about 5% of all double-wides will ever be moved.

While an EF1 tornado might cause minor damage to a site-built home, it could do significant damage to a factory-built home, especially an older model or one that is not properly secured.

Also, structural components (such as windows) are typically weaker than those in site-built homes. 70 miles per hour (113 kilometers per hour) winds can destroy a mobile home in a matter of minutes. Many brands offer optional hurricane straps, which can be used to tie the home to anchors embedded in the ground.

Regulations:
​
United States:
​
In the United States, mobile homes are regulated by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), via the Federal National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974. This national regulation has allowed many manufacturers to distribute nationwide because they are immune to the jurisdiction of local building authorities.

By contrast, producers of modular homes must abide by state and local building codes. There are, however, wind zones adopted by HUD that home builders must follow. For example, statewide, Florida is at least wind-zone 2. South Florida is wind-zone 3, the strongest wind zone. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, new standards were adopted for home construction.

The codes for building within these wind zones were significantly amended, which has greatly increased their durability. During the 2004 hurricanes in Florida, these standards were put to the test, with great success.

Yet, older models continue to face the exposed risk to high winds because of the attachments applied such as carports, porch and screen room additions. Such areas are exposed to "wind capture" which apply extreme force to the underside of the integrated roof panel systems, ripping the fasteners through the roof pan causing a series of events which destroys the main roof system and the home.

The popularity of the factory-built homes caused complications the legal system was not prepared to handle. Originally, factory-built homes tended to be taxed as vehicles rather than real estate, which resulted in very low property tax rates for their inhabitants. That caused local governments to reclassify them for taxation purposes.

However, even with that change, rapid depreciation often resulted in the home occupants paying far less in property taxes than had been anticipated and budgeted.

The ability to move many factory-built homes rapidly into a relatively small area resulted in strains to the infrastructure and governmental services of the affected areas, such as inadequate water pressure and sewage disposal, and highway congestion. That led jurisdictions to begin placing limitations on the size and density of developments.

Early homes, even those that were well-maintained, tended to depreciate over time, much like motor vehicles. That is in contrast to site-built homes which include the land they are built on and tend to appreciate in value. The arrival of mobile homes in an area tended to be regarded with alarm, in part because of the devaluation of the housing potentially spreading to preexisting structures.

This combination of factors has caused most jurisdictions to place zoning regulations on the areas in which factory-built homes are placed, and limitations on the number and density of homes permitted on any given site.

Other restrictions, such as minimum size requirements, limitations on exterior colors and finishes, and foundation mandates have also been enacted. There are many jurisdictions that will not allow the placement of any additional factory-built homes. Others have strongly limited or forbidden all single-wide models, which tend to depreciate more rapidly than modern double-wide models.

Apart from all the practical issues described above, there is also the constant discussion about legal fixture and chattels and so the legal status of a trailer is or could be affected by its incorporation to the land or not. This sometimes involves such factors as whether or not the wheels have been removed.

Cleveland, Mississippi:

The city of Cleveland, Mississippi, has made efforts to eliminate its "run-down mobile homes," which the city describes as "unsightly."

North Carolina:

The North Carolina Board of Transportation allowed 14-foot-wide homes on the state's roads, but until January 1997, 16-foot-wide homes were not allowed. 41 states allowed 16-foot-side homes, but they were not sold in North Carolina.

Under a trial program approved January 10, 1997, the wider homes could be delivered on specific roads at certain times of day and travel 10 mph below the speed limit, with escort vehicles in front and behind. Eventually, all homes had to leave the state on interstate highways.

In December 1997, a study showed that the wider homes could be delivered safely, but some opponents still wanted the program to end. On December 2, 1999, the NC Manufactured Housing Institute asked the state Board of Transportation to expand the program to allow deliveries of 16-foot-wide homes within North Carolina. 

A month later, the board extended the pilot program by three months but did not vote to allow shipments within the state. In June 2000, the board voted to allow 16-foot-side homes to be shipped to other states on more two-lane roads, and to allow shipments in the state east of US 220. A third escort was required, including a law enforcement officer on two-lane roads.

Mobile home parks:
Main article: Trailer park

Mobile homes are often sited in land lease communities known as trailer parks (also 'trailer courts', 'mobile home parks', 'mobile home communities', 'manufactured home communities', 'factory-built home communities' etc.); these communities allow homeowners to rent space on which to place a home. In addition to providing space, the site often provides basic utilities such as water, sewer, electricity, or natural gas and other amenities such as mowing, garbage removal, community rooms, pools, and playgrounds.

There are over 38,000 trailer parks in the United States ranging in size from 5 to over 1,000 home sites. Although most parks appeal to meeting basic housing needs, some communities specialize towards certain segments of the market.

One subset of mobile home parks, retirement communities, restrict residents to those age 55 and older. Another subset of mobile home parks, seasonal communities, are located in popular vacation destinations or are used as a location for summer homes.

Newer homes, particularly double-wides, tend to be built to much higher standards than their predecessors and meet the building codes applicable to most areas. That has led to a reduction in the rate of value depreciation of most used units.

Additionally, modern homes tend to be built from materials similar to those used in site-built homes rather than inferior, lighter-weight materials. They are also more likely to physically resemble site-built homes. Often, the primary differentiation in appearance is that factory-built homes tend to have less of a roof slope so that they can be readily transported underneath bridges and overpasses.

The number of double-wide units sold exceeds the number of single-wides, which is due in part to the aforementioned zoning restrictions. Another reason for higher sales is the spaciousness of double-wide units, which are now comparable to site-built homes.

Single-wide units are still popular primarily in rural areas, where there are fewer restrictions. They are frequently used as temporary housing in areas affected by natural disasters when restrictions are temporarily waived.

​Another recent trend has been parks in which the owner of the mobile home owns the lot on which their unit is parked. Some of these communities simply provide land in a homogeneous neighborhood, but others are operated more like condominiums with club homes complete with swimming pools and meeting rooms which are shared by all of the residents, who are required to pay membership fees and dues.

By country:

Mobile home (or mobile-homes) are used in many European campgrounds to refer to fixed caravans, purpose-built cabins, and even large tents, which are rented by the week or even year-round as cheap accommodation, similar to the US concept of a trailer park. Like many other US loanwords, the term is not used widely in Britain.

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Living in a Rural Area vs. Suburban and Urban Locations.  Pictured below: Landscape based on Rural Areas (top): Achieving Rural Health Equity and Well-Being
Pictured below: 5 facts about U.S. suburbs (Pew Research Center)
Pictured below: The 5 Most Affordable Places to Live In New York City
​Rural Areas in the United States:

Rural areas in the United States, often referred to as Rural America, consists of approximately 97% of the United States' land area. An estimated 60 million people, or one-in-five residents (19.3% of the total U.S. population), live in Rural America. Definitions vary from different parts of the United States government as to what constitutes these areas.

Rural areas tend to be poorer and older than other parts of the United States, in part because of rural flight, declining infrastructure and economic prospects. This declining population also results in less access to services, such as high quality medical and education systems.
​​
Definitions:

The United States Census Bureau defines these areas in the United States as sparsely populated and far from urban centers, which make up an estimated 3% of the land area of the U.S., but is home to more than 80% of the total population. The United States Office of Management and Budget defines rural areas in the United States by county; some rural areas are classified into metropolitan counties. Others are spread throughout the numerous micropolitan statistical areas.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has four different systems for defining rural areas:
  1. Frontier and Remote (FAR) area codes, which define rural areas in four levels of increasing remoteness by ZIP code, 
  2. Rural–Urban Commuting Areas (RUCA),
  3. Urban Influence Codes (UICs),
  4. and Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (RUCC)

The United States Department of Health and Human Services has two agencies that define rural areas. The Health Resources and Services Administration addresses the shortcomings of the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and RUCA definitions to produce a definition that is balanced between them. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses its own definition for setting Medicare payment rates.

CityLab defines rural areas by congressional district, based on census tracts and a machine-learning algorithm.

History:

Rural America was the center of the Populist movement of the United States in the 1890s. Since the 1930s, the rural United States has largely been a stronghold for the Republican Party. The notable exception is Vermont, given its numerous Democrats elected to office in the 21st century.

Demographics:

Most rural counties are experiencing persistent population decline.

Compared with households in urban areas, rural households had lower median household income ($52,386 compared with $54,296), lower median home values ($151,300 compared with $190,900), and lower monthly housing costs for households paying a mortgage ($1,271 compared with $1,561). A higher percentage owned their housing units “free and clear,” with no mortgage or loan (44.0 percent compared with 32.3 percent)

​States with the highest median household incomes in rural areas were Connecticut ($93,382) and New Jersey ($92,972) (not statistically different from each other). The state with the lowest rural median household income was Mississippi ($40,200). Among rural areas, poverty rates varied from a low in Connecticut (4.6 percent) to a high in New Mexico (21.9 percent).

About 13.4 million children under the age of 18 live in rural areas of the nation.
Children in rural areas had lower rates of poverty than those in urban areas (18.9 percent compared with 22.3 percent), but more of them were uninsured (7.3 percent compared with 6.3 percent). A higher percentage of "own children" in rural areas lived in married-couple households (76.3 percent compared with 67.4 percent). ("Own children" includes never-married biological, step and adopted children of the couple).

As of 2016, about 7 percent of homeless people in the United States live in rural areas, although some believe that this is an underestimate.

Health:
See also: Medical deserts in the United States

There are significant health disparities between urban and rural areas of the United States. The per capita rate of primary care physicians is lower in rural areas of the country (65 primary care physicians per 100,000 rural Americans, compared to 105 primary care physicians for urban and suburban Americans). Rural Americans are also more likely than other Americans to suffer from chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

A study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics in 2015 analyzed data on U.S. youth suicide rates from 1996 to 2010. It found that the rates of suicides for rural Americans aged 10 to 24 was almost double the rate among their urban counterparts. This was attributed to social isolation, greater availability of guns, and difficulty accessing healthcare.

Notwithstanding the economic and health challenges, a 2018 survey of rural adults found a majority felt they were better off financially than their parents at the same age. They thought their children would also experience such improvement. Forty percent said their lives came out better than they expected.

See also: __________________________________________________________________________​

Suburbs:

A suburb (or suburban area or suburbia) is a mixed-use or residential area. It can exist either as part of a city/urban area and can often have a large population of employed people. In some metropolitan areas they exist as separate residential communities within commuting distance of a city.

Suburbs might have their own political or legal jurisdiction, especially in the United States, but this is not always the case, especially in the United Kingdom where most suburbs are located within the administrative boundaries of cities. 

In most English-speaking countries, suburban areas are defined in contrast to central or inner city areas, but in Australian English and South African English, suburb has become largely synonymous with what is called a "neighborhood" in other countries, and the term encompasses inner city areas.

In some areas, such as Australia, India, China, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, and parts of the United States, new suburbs are routinely annexed by adjacent cities due to urban sprawl. In others, such as Morocco, France, and much of the United States, many suburbs remain separate municipalities or are governed locally as part of a larger metropolitan area such as a county, district or borough.

In the United States, regions beyond the suburbs are exurbs or "exurban areas", with less population density (but still more than rural areas) but linked to the metropolitan area economically and by commuters.

Suburbs first emerged on a large scale in the 19th and 20th centuries as a result of improved rail and road transport, which led to an increase in commuting. In general, they are less densely populated than inner city neighborhoods within the same metropolitan area, and most residents routinely commute to city centers or business districts via private vehicles or public transits; however, there are many exceptions, including industrial suburbs, planned communities and satellite cities. Suburbs tend to proliferate around cities that have an abundance of adjacent flat land.

United States:

In the 20th century, many suburban areas, especially those not within the political boundaries of the city containing the central business area, began to see independence from the central city as an asset. In some cases, suburbanites saw self-government as a means to keep out people who could not afford the added suburban property maintenance costs not needed in city living.

Federal subsidies for suburban development accelerated this process as did the practice of redlining by banks and other lending institutions. In some cities such as Miami and San Francisco, the main city is much smaller than the surrounding suburban areas, leaving the city proper with a small portion of the metro area's population and land area.

Mesa, Arizona, and Virginia Beach, Virginia, the two most populous suburbs in the United States, are actually more populous than many core cities, including Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Cleveland, Tampa, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and others.

Virginia Beach is now the largest city in all of Virginia, having long since exceeded the population of its neighboring primary city, Norfolk. While Virginia Beach has slowly been taking on the characteristics of an urban city, it will not likely achieve the population density and urban characteristics of Norfolk. It is generally assumed that the population of Chesapeake, another Hampton Roads city, will also exceed that of Norfolk in 2018 if its current growth rate continues at its same pace.

Cleveland, Ohio, is typical of many American central cities; its municipal borders have changed little since 1922, even though the Cleveland urbanized area has grown many times over. 

​Several layers of suburban municipalities now surround cities like the following: 
Suburbs in the United States have a prevalence of usually detached single-family homes.

They are characterized by:
  • Lower densities than central cities, dominated by single-family homes on small plots of land – anywhere from 0.1 acres and up – surrounded at close quarters by very similar dwellings.
  • Zoning patterns that separate residential and commercial development, as well as different intensities and densities of development. Daily needs are not within walking distance of most homes.
  • A greater percentage of whites (both non-Hispanic and, in some areas, Hispanic) and lesser percentage of citizens of other ethnic groups than in urban areas. However, black suburbanization grew between 1970 and 1980 by 2.6% as a result of central city neighborhoods expanding into older neighborhoods vacated by whites.
  • Subdivisions carved from previously rural land into multiple-home developments built by a single real estate company. These subdivisions are often segregated by minute differences in home value, creating entire communities where family incomes and demographics are almost completely homogeneous.
  • Shopping malls and strip malls behind large parking lots instead of a classic downtown shopping district.
  • A road network designed to conform to a hierarchy, including cul-de-sac, leading to larger residential streets, in turn leading to large collector roads, in place of the grid pattern common to most central cities and pre-World War II suburbs.
  • A greater percentage of one-story administrative buildings than in urban areas.
  • Compared to rural areas, suburbs usually have greater population density, higher standards of living, more complex road systems, more franchised stores and restaurants, and less farmland and wildlife.

By 2010, suburbs increasingly gained people in racial minority groups, as many members of minority groups gained better access to education and sought more favorable living conditions compared to inner city areas.

Conversely, many white Americans also moved back to city centers. Nearly all major city downtowns (such as Downtown Miami, Downtown Detroit, Downtown Philadelphia, Downtown Roanoke, or Downtown Los Angeles) are experiencing a renewal, with large population growth, residential apartment construction, and increased social, cultural, and infrastructural investments, as have suburban neighborhoods close to city centers.

Better public transit, proximity to work and cultural attractions, and frustration with suburban life and gridlock have attracted young Americans to the city centers.

Traffic Flow:
​
Suburbs typically have longer travel times to work than traditional neighborhoods. Only the traffic within the short streets themselves is less. This is due to three factors: 
  1. almost-mandatory automobile ownership due to poor suburban bus systems,
  2. longer travel distances
  3. and the hierarchy system, which is less efficient at distributing traffic than the traditional grid of streets.

In the suburban system, most trips from one component to another component requires that cars enter a collector road, no matter how short or long the distance is. This is compounded by the hierarchy of streets, where entire neighborhoods and subdivisions are dependent on one or two collector roads.

Because all traffic is forced onto these roads, they are often heavy with traffic all day. If a traffic crash occurs on a collector road, or if road construction inhibits the flow, then the entire road system may be rendered useless until the blockage is cleared. The traditional "grown" grid, in turn, allows for a larger number of choices and alternate routes.

Suburban systems of the sprawl type are also quite inefficient for cyclists or pedestrians, as the direct route is usually not available for them either. This encourages car trips even for distances as low as several hundreds of yards or meters (which may have become up to several miles or kilometers due to the road network).

Improved sprawl systems, though retaining the car detours, possess cycle paths and footpaths connecting across the arms of the sprawl system, allowing a more direct route while still keeping the cars out of the residential and side streets.

More commonly, central cities seek ways to tax nonresidents working downtown – known as commuter taxes – as property tax bases dwindle. Taken together, these two groups of taxpayers represent a largely untapped source of potential revenue that cities may begin to target more aggressively, particularly if they're struggling.

According to struggling cities, this will help bring in a substantial revenue for the city which is a great way to tax the people who make the most use of the highways and repairs.

Today more companies settle down in suburbs because of low property costs.

Academic study:

The history of suburbia is part of the study of urban history, which focuses on the origins, growth, diverse typologies, culture, and politics of suburbs, as well as on the gendered and family-oriented nature of suburban space. 

Many people have assumed that early-20th-century suburbs were enclaves for middle-class whites, a concept that carries tremendous cultural influence yet is actually stereotypical.

Some suburbs are based on a society of working-class and minority residents, many of whom want to own their own house. Meanwhile, other suburbs have instituted "explicitly racist" policies to deter people deemed as "other", a practice most common in the United States in contrast to other countries around the world. 

Mary Corbin Sies argues that it is necessary to examine how "suburb" is defined as well as the distinction made between cities and suburbs, geography, economic circumstances, and the interaction of numerous factors that move research beyond acceptance of stereotyping and its influence on scholarly assumptions.

In popular culture:
Further information: Suburbia bashing

Suburbs and suburban living have been the subject for a wide variety of films, books, television shows and songs.

French songs like La Zone by Fréhel (1933), Aux quatre coins de la banlieue by Damia (1936), Ma banlieue by Reda Caire (1937), or Banlieue by Robert Lamoureux (1953), evoke the suburbs of Paris explicitly since the 1930s. Those singers give a sunny festive, almost bucolic, image of the suburbs, yet still few urbanized. During the fifties and the sixties, French singer-songwriter Léo Ferré evokes in his songs popular and proletarian suburbs of Paris, to oppose them to the city, considered by comparison as a bourgeois and conservative place.

French cinema was although soon interested in urban changes in the suburbs, with such movies as Mon oncle by Jacques Tati (1958), L'Amour existe by Maurice Pialat (1961) or Two or Three Things I Know About Her by Jean-Luc Godard (1967).

In his one-act opera Trouble in Tahiti (1952), Leonard Bernstein skewers American suburbia, which produces misery instead of happiness.

The American photojournalist Bill Owens documented the culture of suburbia in the 1970s, most notably in his book Suburbia.

The 1962 song "Little Boxes" by Malvina Reynolds lampoons the development of suburbia and its perceived bourgeois and conformist values, while the 1982 song Subdivisions by the Canadian band Rush also discusses suburbia, as does Rockin' the Suburbs by Ben Folds.

The 2010 album The Suburbs by the Canadian-based alternative band Arcade Fire dealt with aspects of growing up in suburbia, suggesting aimlessness, apathy and endless rushing are ingrained into the suburban culture and mentality. 

Suburb The Musical, was written by Robert S. Cohen and David Javerbaum. 

Over the Hedge is a syndicated comic strip written and drawn by Michael Fry and T. Lewis. It tells the story of a raccoon, turtle, a squirrel, and their friends who come to terms with their woodlands being taken over by suburbia, trying to survive the increasing flow of humanity and technology while becoming enticed by it at the same time.

A film adaptation of Over the Hedge was produced in 2006.

British television series such as The Good Life, Butterflies and The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin have depicted suburbia as well-manicured but relentlessly boring, and its residents as either overly conforming or prone to going stir crazy.

​In contrast, U.S. shows such as Knots Landing, Desperate Housewives and Weeds portray the suburbs as concealing darker secrets behind a façade of manicured lawns, friendly people, and beautifully kept houses. Films such as The 'Burbs and Disturbia have brought this theme to the cinema.

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Urban Area:

An urban area, or built-up area, is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs.

In urbanism, the term contrasts to rural areas such as villages and hamlets; in urban sociology or urban anthropology it contrasts with natural environment. The creation of early predecessors of urban areas during the urban revolution led to the creation of human civilization with modern urban planning, which along with other human activities such as exploitation of natural resources led to a human impact on the environment.

"Agglomeration effects" are in the list of the main consequences of increased rates of firm creation since. This is due to conditions created by a greater level of industrial activity in a given region. However, a favorable environment for human capital development would also be generated simultaneously.

The world's urban population in 1950 of just 746 million has increased to 3.9 billion in the decades since. In 2009, the number of people living in urban areas (3.42 billion) surpassed the number living in rural areas (3.41 billion), and since then the world has become more urban than rural. This was the first time that the majority of the world's population lived in a city. 

In 2014 there were 7.3 billion people living on the planet, of which the global urban population comprised 3.9 billion. The Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs at that time predicted the urban population would grow to 6.4 billion by 2050, with 37% of that growth to come from three countries: China, India and Nigeria.

The UN publishes data on cities, urban areas and rural areas, but relies almost entirely on national definitions of these areas. The UN principles and recommendations state that due to different characteristics of urban and rural areas across the globe, a global definition is not possible

Urban areas are created and further developed by the process of urbanization. Urban areas are measured for various purposes, including analyzing population density and urban sprawl.

Unlike an urban area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urban area, but also satellite cities plus intervening rural land that is socio-economically connected to the urban core city, typically by employment ties through commuting, with the urban core city being the primary labor market.

The concept of an "urban area" as used in economic statistics should not be confused with the concept of the "urban area" used in road safety statistics. The last concept is also known as "built-up area in road safety".

​According to the definition by the Office for National Statistics, "Built-up areas are defined as land which is 'irreversibly urban in character', meaning that they are characteristic of a town or city. They include areas of built-up land with a minimum of 20 hectares (200,000 m2; 49 acres). Any areas [separated by] less than 200 metres [of non-urban space] are linked to become a single built-up area.

United States:
Main article: List of United States urban areas

In the United States, there are two categories of urban area. The term urbanized area denotes an urban area of 50,000 or more people. Urban areas under 50,000 people are called urban clusters. Urbanized areas were first delineated in the United States in the 1950 census, while urban clusters were added in the 2000 census. There are 1,371 urban areas and urban clusters with more than 10,000 people.

The U.S. Census Bureau defines an urban area as "core census block groups or blocks that have a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile (386 per square kilometer) and surrounding census blocks that have an overall density of at least 500 people per square mile (193 per square kilometer)".

The largest urban area in the United States is the New York metropolitan area. The population of New York City, the core of the metropolitan area, exceeds 8.5 million people, its metropolitan statistical area has a population that is over 20 million, and its combined statistical area population is over 23 million.

The next seven largest urban areas in the U.S. are Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, and Atlanta. About 82 percent of the population of the United States lives within the boundaries of an urbanized area as of December, 2010. 

Combined, these areas occupy about 2 percent of the land area of the United States. Many Americans live in agglomerations of cities, suburbs, and towns that are adjacent to a metropolitan area's largest city.

The concept of Urbanized Areas as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau is often used as a more accurate gauge of the size of a city, since in different cities and states the lines between city borders and the urbanized area of that city are often not the same.

For example, the city of Greenville, South Carolina has a city population just over 68,000 and an urbanized area population of around 400,000, while Greensboro, North Carolina has a city population just over 285,000 and an urbanized area population of around 300,000 — meaning that Greenville is actually "larger" for some intents and purposes, but not for others, such as taxation, local elections, etc.

In the U.S. Department of Agriculture's natural resources inventory, urban areas are officially known as developed areas or urban and built-up areas. Such areas include the following:
  • cities,
  • ethnic villages,
  • other built-up areas of more than 10 ac (4 ha),
  • industrial sites,
  • railroad yards,
  • cemeteries,
  • airports,
  • golf courses,
  • shooting ranges,
  • institutional and public administration sites,
  • and similar areas.

The 1997 national resources inventory placed over 98,000,000 ac (40,000,000 ha) in this category, an increase of 25,000,000 ac (10,000,000 ha) since 1982.

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Population Shift to the Suburbs Pictured below: Suburbanization occurs when the population of a metropolitan center expands from its centralized, densely populated areas out into its surrounding, suburban areas.
Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urban areas grow. (Sub-urbanization is inversely related to urbanization, which denotes a population shift from rural areas into urban centres.)

Many residents of metropolitan regions work within the central urban area, and choose to live in satellite communities called suburbs and commute to work via automobile or mass transit. Others have taken advantage of technological advances to work from their homes.

These processes often occur in more economically developed countries, especially in the United States, which is believed to be the first country in which the majority of the population lives in the suburbs, rather than in the cities or in rural areas.

Proponents of containing urban sprawl argue that sprawl leads to urban decay and a concentration of lower income residents in the inner city, in addition to being environmentally harmful.

In the United States, suburbanization began to occur in mass amounts after World War II, when soldiers returned home from war and wanted to live in houses outside of the city.

During this time America had a prosperous postwar economy, there was more leisure time available and an increased priority in creating a family unit. Throughout the years, the desire to separate work life and home life has increased, causing an increase in suburban populations.

Suburbs are built for particular groups of people and around certain industries like restaurants, shopping, and entertainment which allows suburban residents to travel less and interact more in the suburban area. Suburbs in the United States have also evolved by increases in technology, which allows residents to work from home rather than commute.

Recent developments in communication technology, such as the spread of broadband services, the growth of e-mail and the advent of practical home video conferencing, have enabled more people to work from home rather than commuting.

Although this can occur either in the city or in the suburbs, the effect is generally decentralizing, which works against the largest advantage of the centre city, which is easier access to information and supplies due to centralization.

Similarly, the rise of modern delivery logistics in postal services, which take advantage of computerization and the availability of efficient transportation networks, also eliminates some of the advantages that were once to be had from having a business located in the city.

Industrial, warehousing, and factory land uses have also moved to suburban areas. Cheap people, cheap telecommunications, and cheap life; remove the need for company headquarters to be within quick courier distance of the warehouses and ports.

Urban areas suffer from traffic congestion, which creates costs in extra driver costs for the company which can be reduced if they were in a suburban area near a highway. As with residential, lower property taxes and low land prices encourage selling industrial land for profitable brownfield redevelopment.

Suburban areas also offer more land to use as a buffer between industrial and residential and retail space to avoid NIMBY sentiments and gentrification pressure from the local community when residential and retail is adjacent to industrial space in an urban area.

Suburban municipalities can offer tax breaks, specialized zoning, and regulatory incentives to attract industrial land users to their area, such as City of Industry, California. The overall effect of these developments is that businesses as well, and not just individuals, now see an advantage to locating in the suburbs, where the cost of buying land, renting space, and running their operations, is cheaper than in the city.

This continuing dispersal from a single city center has led to other recent phenomena in American suburbs, the advent of edge cities and exurbs, arising out of clusters of office buildings built in suburban commercial centers on shopping malls and higher density developments.

With more and more jobs for suburbanites being located in these areas rather than in the main city core that the suburbs grew out of, traffic patterns, which for decades centered on people commuting into the center city to work in the morning and then returning home in the evening, have become more complex, with the volume of intra-suburban traffic increasing tremendously. By 2000, half of the US population lived in suburban areas.

Effects on psychological health:

Historically, it was believed that living in highly urban areas resulted in social isolation, disorganization, and psychological problems, while living in the suburbs was supposed to be better to overall happiness, due to lower population density, lower crime, and a more stable population.

A study based on data from 1974, however, found this not to be the case, finding that people living in the suburbs had neither greater satisfaction with their neighborhood nor greater satisfaction with the quality of their lives as compared to people living in urban areas.

Suburbanization and drug abuse:

Pre-existing disparities in the demographic composition of suburbs pose problems in drug consumption and abuse. This is due to the disconnection created between drug addiction and the biased outward perception of suburban health and safety. The difference in drug mortality rates of suburban and urban spaces is sometimes fueled by the relationship between the general public, medical practitioners, and the pharmaceutical industry.

These affluent individuals, who are living in the suburbs often have an increased means of obtaining otherwise expensive and potent drugs such as opioids and narcotics through valid prescriptions. 

In the United States, the combination of demographic and economic features created as a result of suburbanization has increased the risk of drug abuse in suburban communities. Heroin in suburban communities has increased in incidence as new heroin users in the United States are predominantly white, suburban men and women in their early twenties.

Adolescents and young adults are at an increased risk of drug abuse in suburban spaces due to the enclosed social and economic enclaves that surburbanization propagates. The New England Study of Suburban Youth found that the upper middle class suburban cohorts displayed an increased drug use when compared to the natural average.

The shift in demographics and economic statuses caused by suburbanization has increased the risk of drug abuse in affluent American communities and changed the approach to drug abuse public health initiatives. When addressing public health concerns of drug abuse with patients directly, suburban health care providers and medical practitioners have the advantage of treating a demographic of drug abuse patients that are better educated and equipped with resources to recover from addiction and overdose. 

The disparity of treatment and initiatives between suburban and urban environments in regard to drug abuse and overdose is a public health concern. Although suburban healthcare providers may have more resources to address drug addiction, abuse, and overdose, preconceived ideas about suburban lifestyles may prevent them from giving proper treatment to patients. 

Considering the increasing incidence of drug abuse in suburban environments, the contextual factors that affect certain demographics must also be considered to better understand the prevalence of drug abuse in suburbs; for example, adolescents and their relationship with social groups in school and other socializing forces that occur as a result of suburbanization impact drug abuse incidence.

Economic impacts:

The economic impacts of suburbanization have become very evident since the trend began in the 1950s. Changes in infrastructure, industry, real estate development costs, fiscal policies, and diversity of cities have been easily apparent, as "making it to the suburbs", mainly in order to own a home and escape the chaos of urban centers, have become the goals of many American citizens.

These impacts have many benefits as well as side effects and are becoming increasingly important in the planning and revitalization of modern cities.

Impact on urban industry:
​
The days of industry dominating the urban cores of cities are diminishing as population decentralization of urban centers increases. Companies increasingly look to build industrial parks in less populated areas, largely for more modern buildings and ample parking, as well as to appease the popular desire to work in less congested areas.

Government economic policies that provide incentives for companies to build new structures and lack of incentives to build on Brownfield land also contribute to the flight of industrial development from major cities to surrounding suburban areas. As suburban industrial development becomes increasingly more profitable, it becomes less financially attractive to build in high-density areas.

Another impact of industry leaving the city is the reduction of buffer zones separating metropolitan areas, industrial parks and surrounding suburban residential areas. As this land becomes more economically relevant, the value of such properties very often increases, causing many undeveloped landowners to sell their land.

Consequences on Infrastructure:

As America continues to sprawl, the cost of the required
water lines, sewer lines, and roads could cost more than $21,000 per residential and non-residential development unit, costing the American government $1.12 trillion between 2005 and 2030.

Along with the costs of infrastructure, existing infrastructure suffers, as most of the government's money that is dedicated to improving infrastructure goes to paying for the new necessities in areas further out from the urban core. As a result, the government will often forgo maintenance on previously built infrastructure.

Impact on real estate development costs:

For residential properties, suburbanization allows for home prices to decrease, so people can drive until they can find an area in which they can afford to buy a home. However, these homes may lack certain things such as parks and access to public transit. Also, the prices of homes in downtown center usually decrease as well to compete with the inexpensive homes in the suburbs.

One of the main benefits of living in the suburbs is that one gets a much larger piece of land than one would in the city. Therefore, as the size of lots increases, the supply of housing is more limited. This is to mean that as city growth patterns increase the population increases leading to suburbanization which hence leads to the under development of real estate since it is a business.

Fiscal impact:

The fiscal deficit grows as a result of suburbanization, mainly because in less densely populated areas, property taxes tend to be lower. Also, because of the typical spread pattern of suburban housing, the lack of variety of housing types, and the greater distance between homes, real estate development and public service costs increase, which in turn increase the deficit of upper levels of government. 

Conversely, for the cities it meant lower tax incomes, which meant less money for amenities, including libraries and schools, because the people who stayed were lower-income, and because of relative depopulation.

Effect on urban diversity:

As the trend of suburbanization took hold, many of the people who left the city for the suburbs were white. As a result, there was a rise in black home ownership in central cities. As white households left for the suburbs, housing prices in transition neighborhoods fell, which often lowered the cost of home ownership for black households.

This trend was stronger in older and denser cities, especially in the northeast and Midwest, because new construction was generally more difficult. As of the 2010 Census, minorities like African Americans, Asian Americans and Indo-Americans have become an increasing large factor in recent suburbanization. Many suburbs now have since 1990 large minority communities in suburban and commuter cities.

Environmental Impacts:

With the growth of suburbanization and the spread of people living outside the city this can cause negative impacts on the environment. Suburbanization has been linked to the increase in vehicle mileage, increase land use, and increase in residential energy consumption. From these factors of suburbanization, it has then caused a degradation of air quality, increase usage of natural resources like water and oil, as well as increased amounts of greenhouse gas.

With the increased use of vehicles to commute to and from the work place this causes increased use of oil and gas as well as an increase in emissions. With the increase in emissions from vehicles, this then can cause air pollution and degrades the air quality of an area.

Suburbanization is growing which causes an increase in housing development which causes an increase in land consumption and available land. Suburbanization has also been linked to increase in natural resource use like water to meet residents' demands and to maintain suburban lawns. Also, with the increase in technology and consumptions of residents there is an increase in energy consumption by the amount of electricity used by residents.

Social impacts:

Suburbanization has negative social impacts on many groups of people, including children, adolescents, and the elderly. Children who are affected by suburbanization, or urban sprawl, are commonly referred to as "cul-de-sac kids." Because children living in a suburb cannot go anywhere without a parent, they are unable to practice being independent.

Teenagers that are unable to be independent experience a lot of boredom, isolation, and frustration. These feelings have even led to an increase in rates of teenage suicide and school shootings in suburban areas. Despite these issues with young people, suburbia was still intended for young families.

​The elderly in suburbia experience social isolation once they lose their license to drive. In order to leave their home the elderly need to be able to afford a chauffeur or be willing to ask relatives to drive them around. This has resulted in upper-class elderly moving to retirement communities. Both the wealthy elderly and those who still live in suburbs are largely separated from all other groups of society.

​See also:







Homeownership in the United States Pictured below: Harvard Research: The Future Of Home Prices In 2021
The home-ownership rate in the United States is the percentage of homes that are owned by their occupants. In 2009, it remained similar to that in some other post-industrial nations with 67.4% of all occupied housing units being occupied by the unit's owner.

Home ownership rates vary depending on demographic characteristics of households such as ethnicity, race, type of household as well as location and type of settlement. In 2018, home-ownership dropped to a lower rate than it was in 1994, with a rate of 64.2%.

Since 1960, the home-ownership rate in the United States has remained relatively stable. It has decreased 1.0% since 1960, when 65.2% of American households owned their own home. Additionally, homeowner equity has fallen steadily since World War II and is now less than 50% of the value of homes on average. 

Home-ownership was most common in rural areas and suburbs, with three quarters of suburban households being homeowners. Among the country's regions, the Midwestern United States had the highest home-ownership rate and the Western United States had the lowest. 

Recent research has examined the decline in home-ownership rates among households with "heads" aged 25 to 44 years. The rates fell substantially between 1980 and 2000, and recovered only partially during the United States housing bubble of the early 2000s. This research indicates that a trend toward marrying later and the increase in household earnings risk that occurred after 1980 account for a large share of the decline in young home-ownership.

In general, homeowners in the United States also tend to have higher incomes. Households residing in their own home were more likely to be families (as opposed to individuals) than were their tenant counterparts. Among racial demographics, White Americans had the country's highest home-ownership rate, while African Americans had the lowest home-ownership rate.

One study also shows that home-ownership rates appear correlated with higher school attainment.

The name "home-ownership rate" can be misleading. As defined by the US Census Bureau, it is the percentage of homes that are occupied by the owner. It is not the percentage of adults that own their own home. This latter percentage will be significantly lower than the home-ownership rate.

Many households that are owner-occupied contain adult relatives (often young adults, descendants of the owner) who do not own their own home. Single building multi-bedroom rental units can contain more than one adult, all of whom do not own a home.

The term "home-ownership rate" can also be misleading because it includes households that owe on a mortgage. Which means that they do not fully own the equity in their own home, which they are said to "own". According to ATTOM Data Research, only "34 percent of all American homeowners have 100 percent equity in their properties — they’ve either paid off their entire mortgage debt or they never had a mortgage".

According to the Financial Post the cost of the average U.S. house in 2016 was US$187,000.

Measuring method:

In the US, the homeownership rate is created through the Housing Vacancy Survey by the US Census Bureau. It is created by dividing the owner occupied units by the total number of occupied units. This is an important point to understand changes in the homeownership rate over time.

The bust of the housing bubble resulted in many houses becoming foreclosed. However, the decrease in the homeownership rate from 3Q2007 to 4Q2007 was mostly a result of an increase in the renter's population and less due to a decrease in the homeowner population.

Government policy:

Homeownership has been promoted as government policy using several means involving mortgage debt and the government sponsored entities Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, which fund or guarantee $6.5 trillion of assets with the purpose of directly or indirectly promoting homeownership.

Homeownership has been further promoted through tax policy which allows a tax deduction for mortgage interest payments on a primary residence.

The Community Reinvestment Act also encourages homeownership for low-income earners.

The promotion of homeownership by the government through encouraging mortgage borrowing and lending has given rise to debates regarding government policies and the subprime mortgage crisis.

Race:

The homeownership rate, as well as its change over time, has varied significantly by race. While homeowners constitute the majority of white, Asian and Native American households, the homeownership rates for African Americans and Latinos have typically fallen short of the fifty percent threshold.

Whites have had the highest homeownership rate, followed by Asians and Native Americans.

Although a landmark United States Supreme Court ruling Shelley v. Kraemer 334 U.S. 1 (1948), ruled invalid exclusionary racial covenants, which almost always barred black citizens from owning a home but often extended to American Jews, Asian Americans, Mexican Americans, and non-citizens and other ethnic groups and could be used by white real estate owners to enforce or introduce racial segregation, threats of legal action allowed them to remain effective for some time afterwards. 

Racial steering practices later on also affected patterns of home ownership among non-whites and the cumulative effects of exclusionary covenants, racial steering, and other segregation measures have resulted in lower property values, less capital accumulation, lower municipal tax revenues, and disinvestment in black communities. 

Despite the fact that the Shelley v. Kraemer decision found exclusionary covenants to be unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution's Equal Protection Clause 73 years ago, and hence unenforceable, the clauses are still present in many deeds well into the twenty-first century.

Hispanics had the lowest homeownership rate in the country in all years, except for 2002, up until 2005. For the last half of the decade of the 2000s the homeownership rate for Hispanics exceeded that of African Americans. Temporal fluctuations were slight for all races, with rates commonly not changing more than two percentage points per year.

The strongest increase in the percentage of homeowners in the first half of the decade of the 2000s was among non-white minorities. The homeownership rate for minorities approached the sixty percent mark in 2006, which was a significant change because less than half of all minority households owned homes as recently as 1994. The ownership rate for minorities increased by 25.6%, from 47.7% in 1993 to 59.9% in 2006. This rate fell after the 2006 peak, consistent with overall homeownership rates.

The increase among white Americans was less substantial. In 2005, 75.8% of white Americans owned their own homes, compared to 70% in 1993, and the rate fell during the last half of the decade of the 2000s, slightly more slowly than for the rest of the population.

​Thus one can conclude that despite a large remaining discrepancy between the homeownership rates among different racial groups, the gap had been closing up until the peak, with ownership rates increasing more substantially for minorities than for whites, but subsequently began slightly widening:
SOURCE ABOVE: US Census Bureau, 2016

​Type of Household:

There is a strong correlation between the type and age of a household's family structure and homeownership. As of 2006, married couple families, which also have the highest median income of any household type, were most likely to own a home.

Age played a significant role as well with homeownership increasing with the age of the householder until age 65, when a slight decrease becomes visible. While only 43% of households with a householder under the age of thirty-five owned a home, 81.6% of those with a householder between the ages of 55 and 64 did.

This means that households with a middle-aged householder were nearly twice as likely to own a home as those with a young householder. Overall married couple families with a householder age 70 to 74 had the highest homeownership rate with 93.3% being homeowners.

​The lowest homeownership rate was recorded for single females under the age of twenty-five of whom only 13.6%, were homeowners. Yet, single females had an overall higher homeownership rate than single males and single mothers.

Income:
Main article: Income in the United States

There are considerable correlations between income, homeownership rate and housing characteristics. As income is closely linked to social status, sociologist Leonard Beeghley has made the hypothesis that "the lower the social class, then the fewer amenities built into housing."

According to 2002, US Census Bureau data housing characteristics vary considerably with income. For homeowners with middle-range household incomes, ranging from $40,000 to $60,000, the median home value was $112,000, while the median size was 1,700 square feet (160 m2) and the median year of construction was 1970. A slight majority, 54% of homes occupied by owners in this group had two or more bathrooms.

Among homeowners with household incomes in the top 10%, those earning more than $120,000 a year, home values were considerably higher while houses were larger and newer.

​The median value for homes in this demographic was $256,000 while median square footage was 2,500 and the median year of construction was 1977. The vast majority, 80%, had two or more bathrooms. Overall, houses of those with higher incomes were larger, newer, more expensive with more amenities.

Political influence:

Homeownership influences the political participation of individuals, with homeowners more likely to participate in local elections. Owning a home increases the likelihood of participating in local primaries by 35%.

Voter turnout probability increases with the value of the home. Becoming a homeowner influences an individual's political outlook, as they are more likely to vote in ways they perceive as protecting their investment. Being a homeowner increases the likelihood of political participation by 75% when issue of zoning are decided.

For national elections, homeowners are more likely than renters to participate in primaries and general elections; their turnout is about 10 points higher than renters for general elections.

For those who use private mortgages to finance homeownership, their party affiliation polarizes towards one of the two major political parties. Individuals who buy homes through Federal Housing Administration-supported mortgages are much more likely to become Democrats.

​International comparison (2002):
Main article: List of countries by home ownership rate
See also:






​
Real Estate for Buying (or Selling) a Home in a Safe Neighborhood
Real Estate (Wikipedia):

Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more generally) buildings or housing in general.

Real estate is different from personal property, which is not permanently attached to the land, such as vehicles, boats, jewelry, furniture, tools and the rolling stock of a farm.

​Residential real estate:

Residential real estate may contain either a single family or multifamily structure that is available for occupation or for non-business purposes.

Residences can be classified by and how they are connected to neighbouring residences and land. Different types of housing tenure can be used for the same physical type. For example, connected residences might be owned by a single entity and leased out, or owned separately with an agreement covering the relationship between units and common areas and concerns.

​Major categories include:
  • Attached / multi-unit dwellings
    • Apartment (American English) or Flat (British English) – An individual unit in a multi-unit building. The boundaries of the apartment are generally defined by a perimeter of locked or lockable doors. Often seen in multi-story apartment buildings.
    • Multi-family house – Often seen in multi-story detached buildings, where each floor is a separate apartment or unit.
    • Terraced house (a. k. a. townhouse or rowhouse) – A number of single or multi-unit buildings in a continuous row with shared walls and no intervening space.
    • Condominium (American English) – A building or complex, similar to apartments, owned by individuals. Common grounds and common areas within the complex are owned and shared jointly. In North America, there are townhouse or rowhouse style condominiums as well. The British equivalent is a block of flats.
    • Cooperative (a. k. a. co-op) – A type of multiple ownership in which the residents of a multi-unit housing complex own shares in the cooperative corporation that owns the property, giving each resident the right to occupy a specific apartment or unit.
  • Semi-detached dwellings
    • Duplex – Two units with one shared wall.
  • Detached dwellings
  • Portable dwellings
    • Mobile homes or residential caravans – A full-time residence that can be (although might not in practice be) movable on wheels.
    • Houseboats – A floating home
    • Tents – Usually temporary, with roof and walls consisting only of fabric-like material.
  • Commercial:

The size of an apartment or house can be described in square feet or meters. In the United States, this includes the area of "living space", excluding the garage and other non-living spaces. The "square meters" figure of a house in Europe may report the total area of the walls enclosing the home, thus including any attached garage and non-living spaces, which makes it important to inquire what kind of surface area definition has been used.

It can be described more roughly by the number of rooms. A studio apartment has a single bedroom with no living room (possibly a separate kitchen). A one-bedroom apartment has a living or dining room separate from the bedroom. Two bedroom, three bedroom, and larger units are common. (A bedroom is a separate room intended for sleeping. It commonly contains a bed and, in newer dwelling units, a built-in closet for clothes storage.)

Other categories
The size of these is measured in Gaz (square yards), Quila, Marla, Beegha, and acre.

See List of house types (next topic) for a complete listing of housing types and layouts, real estate trends for shifts in the market, and house or home for more general information.

As an investment:
​
In markets where land and building prices are rising, real estate is often purchased as an investment, whether or not the owner intends to use the property. Often investment properties are rented out, but "flipping" involves quickly reselling a property, sometimes taking advantage of arbitrage or quickly rising value, and sometimes after repairs are made that substantially raise the value of the property.

Luxury real estate is sometimes used as a way to store value, especially by wealthy foreigners, without any particular attempt to rent it out. Some luxury units in London and New York City have been used as a way for corrupt foreign government officials and businesspeople from countries without strong rule of law to launder money or to protect it from seizure.

See also: ___________________________________________________________________________

Locate a Home in a Safe Neighborhood
(By NeighborhoodScout)

Buying a home is by far the biggest purchase for most people.  Don’t risk buying in the wrong location and jeopardize your family’s finances and happiness. Know the truth.

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​SCHOOLS. LIFESTYLE. NEIGHBORS. WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK:

Comprehensive real estate reports help you choose wisely. The location of your home is the key to its current and future value. It drives the quality of the schools your children will attend, and your access to finding a good job nearby. It determines who your neighbors will be. Location will shape your life for years, and that of your children. NeighborhoodScout reveals the truth with custom analytics and patented data developed by Ph.Ds. Make good decisions, with confidence.

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Don’t simply trust information from someone trying to convince you to buy a property. You can rely on NeighborhoodScout to provide objective home buying insights.

Our singular purpose: to empower you with the best information to make good decisions where location matters.

You’ve come to the right place.

About NeighborhoodScout®NeighborhoodScout provides the most comprehensive database of hyper-local real estate data available today. The platform is owned and operated by Location, Inc., builders of location-based Big Data and intelligence for the Fortune 1000 and beyond.

Dr. Schiller, creator of NeighborhoodScout was created by Dr. Andrew Schiller, who earned his PhD from Clark University’s Graduate School of Geography, America’s oldest and largest geography PhD program. Dr. Schiller was previously a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Atomic Energy Complex, and also Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy’s Tennessee Chapter.

A team of data scientists and experts in geographic information systems and analysis join Dr. Schiller at the helm of NeighborhoodScout.

Apart from the competition, NeighborhoodScout is THE neighborhood search engine. It uses patented methodologies to build neighborhood profiles that allow individuals or businesses to instantly find the best neighborhoods for them, in any part of the United States they choose.

NeighborhoodScout uses a new and unique way of matching people with the best neighborhoods for them and their families. This approach uses the largest database of neighborhood statistics and characteristics ever created, and converts it into accurate neighborhood profile matches customized to the needs of any individual. The user can choose exactly what they want in a neighborhood by selecting lifestyle searches and key words linked to this massive database.

The best matching neighborhood profiles are mapped instantly, described in rich detail, and linked to the local information that newcomers and prospective movers want most, like home listings in most cases, school profiles and exclusive ratings, exclusive crime statistics for each neighborhood, and much more.

NeighborhoodScout significantly reduces the amount of time spent searching for real estate by pinpointing the locations that best meet your specific criteria, instantly, and without even leaving your office. NeighborhoodScout also decreases the stress associated with a property search by eliminating misguided locations and reducing financial risks and uncertainties associated with buying real estate.

This service is an entirely new class of product that delivers the most accurate and personalized matches, providing fresh insights that empower you to make the best choices with ease, no matter where you’re moving.

Unlike the competition, NeighborhoodScout offers seamless national coverage. No slice, parcel or pad of terra firma has been omitted. Additionally, unlike other sources who offer Zip code or city level data, Scout’s models take you deep below the Zip code to uncover expertly-build data at the neighborhood and even micro-neighborhood levels.

This level of granularity is exclusive to NeighborhoodScout and has been so since 2002.

Read more about Scout’s unique methodologies.

What neighborhood statistics do you use?

NeighborhoodScout uses over 600 characteristics to build a neighborhood profile for each and every neighborhood (census tract) and address (block-group) in America. These include:
  • school quality,
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  • the age, size and style of homes,
  • the density of buildings,
  • rental areas versus owner occupied, the
  • proportion of families with children,
  • educational attainment,
  • languages spoken,
  • types of careers of those living in the neighborhood,
  • economic trends,
  • demographic trends,
  • crime trends and forecasts,
  • crime risk by crime type,
  • home price appreciation and HPA forecasts,
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  • and many, many more.

This set of characteristics captures the true look, feel, and character of places like never before, allowing extraordinarily accurate neighborhood profile matches to be instantly calculated for the customer.

The data Location, Inc. uses for NeighborhoodScout is the latest neighborhood statistics available from several leading government sources. These sources include the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Center for Education Statistics, and the U.S. Geological Service, among others.

We bring information from these different agencies together in one giant database and then we use our PhD-level expertise to create new, useful profiles and insights about neighborhoods, cities, and towns all across America. No one else does it like NeighborhoodScout.

How are neighborhood profiles calculated?

NeighborhoodScout applies a patented algorithm to measure the similarity of neighborhoods based on customer-specified criteria, such that exact matches to what the customer wants are delivered instantly. This revolutionary approach is applied to the nearly 200 characteristics used to describe each of the more than 61,000 neighborhood profiles (i.e. census tracts) in America to create accurate matches, no matter what the customer is looking for in a neighborhood.

This unique approach offers customers a level of service available nowhere else.

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National Association of Realtors (NAR) including Real Estate Businesses Operating in the United States Pictured below: Real Estate Explained -- ​Real estate can include property, land, buildings, air rights above the land, and underground rights below the land. The term refers to real, or physical, property. As a business term, real estate also refers to producing, buying, and selling property. It affects the U.S. economy because it's a critical driver of economic growth.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is an American trade association for those who work in the real estate industry. It has over 1.4 million members, including NAR's institutes, societies, and councils, involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

The organization holds a U.S. trademark over the term "realtor", limiting the use of the term to its members. NAR also functions as a self-regulatory organization for real estate brokerage. The organization is headquartered in Chicago.

Overview:
​
The National Association of Realtors was founded on May 12, 1908 as the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges in Chicago, Illinois. In 1916, the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges changed its name to The National Association of Real Estate Boards. The current name was adopted in 1972.

NAR's members are residential and commercial real estate brokers, real estate salespeople, immovable property managers, appraisers, counselors, and others engaged in all aspects of the real estate (immovable property) industry, where a state license to practice is required.

Members belong to one or more of some 1,600 local realtor boards or associations. They are pledged to a code of ethics and standards of practice, which were adopted in 1913.

The National Association of Realtors is also a member of The Real Estate Roundtable, a lobbying group in Washington, D.C.

Trademark:

The NAR holds a U.S. trademark over the term "realtor" and several related terms. The organisation's style guide states that "the preferred form of the term is REALTOR®—in all caps, and using the registered trademark symbol".

The use of the term "realtor" was first proposed by Charles N. Chadbourn, in an article in the National Real Estate Journal in March 1916.

Chadbourn, then a real estate agent in Minneapolis and vice-president of the National Association of Real Estate Boards, wrote: "I propose that the National Association adopt a professional title to be conferred upon its members which they shall use to distinguish them from outsiders. That this title be copyrighted and defended by the National Association against misuse... I therefore, propose that the National Association adopt and confer upon its members, dealers in realty, the title of realtor (accented on the first syllable)."

The association adopted the term the following year, at its national convention in New Orleans in April 1916.

In 1949, the National Association of Real Estate Boards obtained U.S. registration no. 515,200 for "realtors" as a collective trademark for real estate brokerage services. In 1950, it obtained a second registration, registration no. 519,789, for "realtor", in the same field.

NAR has since obtained registrations for the term in such fields as electronic lock-boxes, clothing, and jewelry.

The 515,200 and 519,789 registrations have been subject to a number of cancellation proceedings:
  • In June 1998, Arleen Freeman, a real estate agent who had formerly been an NAR member, petitioned the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to cancel both registrations. In June 2002, the USPTO's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) held that, because Freeman was a former member of NAR and a licensee of the trademarks, she was estopped from bringing a proceeding to cancel them under the doctrine of licensee estoppel.
  • In November 2001, Jacob Zimmerman, a student who was not a member of NAR, petitioned the USPTO to cancel the registrations, on the ground that "realtor" and "realtors" were generic terms rather than a trademark. On March 31, 2004, the TTAB denied the petition, finding on the evidence before it that the term was not generic.
  • In March 2015, Jeffrey Schermerhorn petitioned to cancel the 519,789 registration. Schermerhorn alleged fraud under Torres v. Cantine Torresella S.r.l. as well as genericness, arguing that "Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Google Plus" provides additional evidence of generic use that was not available at the time of the Zimmerman proceeding. On March 30, 2016, the TTAB granted the NAR's motion to dismiss the petition on the ground that Schermerhorn, who had been a NAR member and licensee at the time he submitted his petition to cancel, was also estopped from challenging the mark.

NAR and Multiple Listing Service (MLS) systems:

The NAR governs the hundreds of local Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) which are the information exchanges used across the nation by real estate brokers. (However, there are many MLSs that are independent of NAR, although membership is typically limited to licensed brokers and their agents; MLSPIN is an example of one of the larger independent MLSs in North America.)

Through a complicated arrangement, NAR sets the policies for most of the Multiple Listings Services, and in the late 1990s, with the growth of the Internet, NAR evolved regulations allowing Internet Data Exchanges (IDX) whereby brokers would allow a portion of their data to be seen on the Internet via brokers' or agents' websites and Virtual Office Websites (VOW) which required potential buyers to register to obtain information.

These policies allowed participants—whether they were individual one-person brokers or large regional companies—to limit access to some or all of the MLS data by individual brokers (whether they were brokers operating solely on the Internet or local competitors).

In 2005, this prompted the Department of Justice to file an antitrust lawsuit against NAR alleging its MLS rules in regard to these types of limitations on the display of data were the product of a conspiracy to restrain trade by excluding brokers who used the Internet to operate differently from traditional brick-and-mortar brokers. (For a description of the DOJ action, see Antitrust Case filings for US v. National Association of Realtors.)

Meanwhile, various real estate trends such as expanded consumer access and the Internet are consolidating existing local MLS organizations into larger and more statewide or regional MLS systems, such as in California and Virginia/Maryland/Washington DC's Metropolitan Regional Information Systems.

In response to the case, NAR had proposed setting up a single Internet Listing Display system which would not allow participants to exclude individual brokers (whether of a bricks-and-mortar type or solely internet-based) but require a blanket opting out of display on all other brokers' sites. This system became the IDX system.

Although IDX allows the public to view MLS listings, it still requires the listing brokerage information to be placed on the listing every place it appears (brokers legally "own" the listings of their brokerage), to prevent misrepresentation of the listing information, and to place accountability for the information on the broker as the law dictates.

The antitrust lawsuit was settled in May 2008. The agreement mandates that all Multiple Listing Service systems allow access to Internet-based competitors. The NAR will be required to treat online brokers the same as traditional brokers and cannot exclude them from membership because they do not have a traditional business model. 

The NAR admitted no wrongdoing, and it paid neither fines nor damages as part of the deal. The settlement will not be official until a federal judge formally approves it, most likely in 2008. While the general counsel of the NAR believes that the settlement will have no effect on the commission paid by the general public, a business professor at Western Michigan University predicted that the increased competition would cause a 25 to 50 percent decrease in commissions.

Another major anticompetitive practice is supported (indirectly) by various state laws which prohibit the "sharing" of commissions with unlicensed individuals. In broad interpretations, this is deemed to prevent a buyers' agent from providing a credit to his or her buyers from commissions received.

Currently, there are 10 states where real estate agents and brokers are barred from offering homebuyers or sellers cash rebates or gifts of any kind with a cash value more than $25.

Various realtors in such states have successfully contested this interpretation in states which now allow the practice (notably, Patrick Lea, a realtor in Ohio, and numerous agents in Kentucky). The Kentucky case was ultimately tried with the United States Department of Justice as the plaintiff and the Kentucky Real Estate Commission as the defendant. In 2019, The National Association of Realtors’ board approved the Clear Cooperation Policy.

A policy that requires brokers to submit a listing to the Multiple Listings Service within one business day of marketing a property to the public.

Lobbying:

The NAR wields substantial power as a lobbying organization. Since 1999, the NAR has spent more than $99,384,108, and spent $22,355,463 in 2011 alone. It has consistently ranked among the largest Political Action Committees in the United States.

In its 2016 figures, the Center for Responsive Politics ranked the National Association of Realtors as the 2nd largest top spender in lobbying after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The NAR spent $64,821,111 in 2016.
​
On the total spending, the largest share—46%—has gone to Republicans, and 30.8% has gone to Democrats. Key political issues for the group revolve around federal de-regulation of the financial services industry.

Enabling the subprime mortgage crisis:
​
Some experts believe that brokers and realtors bear at least partial responsibility for the subprime mortgage crisis, purposefully inflating the perceived market values of homes, and subsequently encouraging buyers to take out larger mortgages than needed.

The theory is that collusion with mortgage lenders enabled realtors to earn high volumes of commission on borrowed money for inflated house values with no risk to the realtors.

Many victims feel that home buyers were tricked into taking out larger loans to buy more expensive homes, and the higher sales prices paid the realtors higher commissions. This practice is not considered "unethical" by the NAR which claims to be a Self-regulatory organization; however, obvious implications show extensive and substantial harm rendered to the public.

Many victims are encouraging the Securities and Exchange Commission to begin aggressively regulating agents and refunding overpayments to homebuyers.

Antitrust lawsuits:

In 2005, the United States Department of Justice filed a formal complaint against the National Association of Realtors for violating Section 4 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The complaint sought to enjoin the National Association of Realtors "from maintaining or enforcing a policy that restrains competition from brokers who use the Internet to more efficiently and cost effectively serve home sellers and buyers, and from adopting other related anticompetitive rules.

The DOJ challenged NAR's MLS rules that inhibited competition from Internet-based brokers. On November 18, 2008 the Court entered a Final Judgment approving a settlement against NAR. Under the Final Judgment, the NAR agreed to the policies challenged by the United States and replaced those policies with rules that do not discriminate against brokers who use the Internet to provide low-priced brokerage services to consumers.

In 2012, American Home Realty Network, Inc. the operator of NeighborCity filed antitrust counterclaims in response to a pair of copyright lawsuits, alleging that the "copyright lawsuits filed against it by two multiple listing services with financial backing from the National Association of Realtors are part of a concerted effort by NAR to drive the company out of business and eliminate it as a provider of services to real estate brokers." 

The counter-claims also allege that the copyrights asserted were never properly registered. In the Minnesota case, which recites claims against the NAR but does not directly name the NAR as a counter-defendant, AHRN filed a second amended counterclaim adding Edina Realty and Home Services of America as Counter-Defendants in the antitrust and unfair competition claims. 

Edina Realty is a subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company, which owns real estate brokerage firms in states across the country, including:
  • Minnesota, 
    Maryland, 
    North Carolina, 
    Georgia, 
    Washington, 
    Oregon, 
    Arizona, 
    Rhode Island, 
    Connecticut, 
    Iowa, 
    Nebraska, 
    Ohio, 
    Illinois, 
    Kansas, 
    South Carolina, 
    Missouri, 
    Pennsylvania, 
    Indiana, 
    Kentucky, 
    Alabama,
    and California.

Earlier in 2012, the mid-Atlantic multiple listing service Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. (MRIS) and St. Paul, MN-based Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota Inc. (NorthstarMLS) filed copyright claims against NeighborCity. The National Association of Realtors said it would provide financial support for NorthstarMLS and MRIS legal expenses.

Specializations:

NAR educational requirements and recognized designations:

Realtors, as members of NAR, also have the option of studying for additional certifications in a variety of specialties, several of which are backed by NAR with offerings of certification and update courses available nationwide.

The most well known NAR sponsored designations are the following:
  • Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR). The Real Estate Buyers Agent Council has over 40,000 members and is the largest association of real estate professionals focusing on all aspects of buyer representation. Of the REBAC members, over 30,000 have completed REBAC's two-day course and provided documentation of buyer agency experience. Linked to the ABR is the ABRM, Accredited Buyer Representative Manager (ABRM) for managers.
  • Accredited Land Consultant (ALC). ALC's are specialists in land brokerage transactions, including farms and ranches, raw land sales and development. The ALC designation is conferred by the REALTORS Land Institute, an NAR commercial affiliate.
  • Certified Commercial Investment Member® (CCIM®). CCIMs are specialists in commercial real estate brokerage, leasing, valuation and investment analysis. There are more than 7,500 designees and an equal number of candidates principally in North America, but also in Asia and Europe. The CCIM® designation is conferred by the CCIM Institute, an NAR commercial affiliate.
  • Certified Property Manager® (CPM®). Geared to real estate property management specialists, designees handle all forms of management from residential to commercial to industrial. The CPM® designation is conferred by Institute of Real Estate Management® (IREM), an NAR commercial affiliate. Internationally, almost 20,000 leaders in commercial, residential & mixed-use management utilize IREM for learning, certifications, and networking.
  • Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager (CRB). The designation is awarded to realtors who have completed the Council's advanced educational and professional requirements.
  • Certified Residential Specialist (CRS). CRS Designees earn a median income of $85,000 annually, nearly 3 times the $29,400 median income of realtors serving as sales associates. They also average a total of 21 transactions per year with gross sales of $3.2 million. Requirements for this designation include a total of at least 25 transactions (or specific volume of sales) over a specific time period, and significant experience, as well as educational requirements.
  • Certification for Internet Professionalism (e-Pro). An e-Pro is a realtor who has undergone a new training program presented entirely online to be certified as Internet Professionals. NAR is the first major trade group to offer certification for online professionalism which involves all aspects of doing business on the internet. This is not a designation but rather a certification sponsored by NAR.
  • Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS). Realtors with the CIPS designation have training and hands-on experience in international real estate transactions, Whether traveling abroad to put transactions together, assisting foreign investors, helping local buyers invest abroad, or serving an immigrant niche in local markets. CIPS designees have also completed a program of study focusing on critical aspects of transnational transactions, including currency and exchange rate issues and cross-cultural relationships, regional market conditions, investment performance, tax issues and more. The CIPS network consists of 1,500 real estate professionals from 50 countries.
  • Counselor of Real Estate (CRE). A CRE designee is one of only 1,100 by-invitation-only members of an international group of professionals who provide seasoned, objective advice on real property and land-related matters. The CRE designation is conferred by the Counselors of Real Estate, an NAR commercial affiliate.
  • Graduate of the Realtor's Institute (GRI). The GRI designation is held by 19% of realtors and courses are offered through state realtor associations with 90 hours of coursework on marketing and servicing listed properties to real estate law. In a 2003 survey, NAR has determined that GRIs earned over $33,200 more annually than non-designees.
  • Real Estate Professional Assistant (REPA). Designed for administrative assistants or employees of realtors (who may or may not hold a real estate license), a two-day certificate course provides an intensive introduction to the real estate business and to the specific ways support staff can become valuable assets to their employers.
  • Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES). The SRES is a designation for realtors to address the needs of home buyers age 50-plus, the largest and wealthiest buyer's group in the country. SRES is a council of REBAC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The National Association of Realtors.
  • Society of Industrial and Office Realtors® (SIOR). SIOR designees are commercial specialists in industrial and office markets. They are top-producing professionals and respected industry leaders. SIOR has more than 3,400 members in 685 cities and 36 countries. SIOR designees can hold the following specialty designations: industrial, office, industrial and office (dual), sales manager, executive manager, or advisory service. SIOR also consists of associate members who include corporate executives, developers, educators, and others involved in the commercial real estate industry. The SIOR designation is conferred by the Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS®, an NAR commercial affiliate.

Consumer outreach:

The NAR launched HouseLogic.com in February 2010 in an attempt to reach consumers directly for the first time. Beyond establishing that bond with consumers, the goal of the site is to provide education—with much commercial interests—to consumers about investing in their homes.

NAR produces the radio show Real Estate Today, which is distributed by Westwood One.

Other national real estate associations:
See also:






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Instant (real estate) Buyer: Is iBuying Here to Stay? (NY Times 11/19/2021) Pictured below: iBuyer or Realtor? Know The Differences
Pictured below: Top iBuyers Reviewed! Who’s #1 in 2021? (Note that the chart below was prepared by Houzeo to compare its advantages to the other offerings. Nevertheless, you can use this as a starting point for your own point-by-point comparison of iBuyers you are considering.
Is iBuying Here to Stay? (Courtesy of New York Times)

Technology is changing the way people buy and sell homes — for better or worse. Here’s what you need to know about it.

By Debra Kamin
  • Nov. 19, 2021

In the real estate industry, brokers and lenders have long controlled access to almost every part of the buying and selling process. But that may be changing.

Companies known as iBuyers — the “i” stands for “instant” — are using algorithms to set home prices, muscling in on conventional brokers and promising an end to packed house tours and bidding wars.

And iLenders are using technology to simplify the mortgage application process, giving buyers a leg up in an overheated market. By working directly with consumers, and eliminating banks and brokers, these companies offer a faster, more streamlined approach to buying and selling homes.

As anyone who has experienced a traditional real estate transaction will appreciate, these instant transactions can be quick and less complex. But there are drawbacks: In a sellers’ market, some homeowners may be leaving cash on the table by dealing with iBuyers. And those wary of tech or looking for a personal touch may find the experience wanting.

Despite the attention that iBuying is receiving, Glenn Kelman, the chief executive of Redfin, predicts that “a tiny fraction of customers are going to buy or sell a house that way.”Credit...Grant Hindsley for The New York TimesWhat Is iBuying?Essentially, iBuyers are institutional house flippers: companies that use algorithms to estimate a home’s value and then buy it directly from the owner for cash.

On average, iBuyers offer 0.22 percent less than fair-market value for a home and charge the seller slightly higher fees, about 1.3 percent more than a conventional listing agent would.

The trade-off is a faster transaction — the process takes days rather than weeks, as there are no extended escrow periods — and fewer of the hurdles that give sellers headaches, like open houses and multiple showings with strangers.

Opendoor, Offerpad and other major iBuyers generally list the homes that they buy on their websites, and sometimes also with multiple listing services, so buyers working with real estate agents can find them. Once a home is acquired by an iBuyer, it can be turned around and sold like any other property.

Of course, this is still a very small sector of the market. In September, iBuying accounted for about 1 percent of all home sales in the United States, although in certain metro areas the number was as high as 6 percent.

And for some major players, the boom has already gone bust. Zillow’s iBuying arm — until recently, the nation’s second-largest iBuying operation — imploded earlier this month, and the company is now shuttering its algorithmic home-sales division and laying off a quarter of its work force, while offloading thousands of houses acquired through iBuying but not yet flipped.

But other companies — including Opendoor, the largest and best-known iBuyer, as well as Offerpad and RedfinNow — are still expanding.

In the weeks since Zillow’s abrupt exit from the iBuying space, there has been debate over just how transformative the practice will be for the real estate industry, which thrives on personal networking.

Tim Gordon, a real estate investor in Southern California, tried his luck with iBuying last spring. The quote he got from Redfin was $670,000 — higher than he expected — so “I just took the money and ran,” he said.

Glenn Kelman, the chief executive of Redfin, said that he resists most of the generalizations: “I hate the narrative that iBuying is the future of real estate, or the narrative that iBuying is a fraud.”

Redfin recently announced its third-quarter financial results, which included significant increases in overall revenue and in profit from real estate services, including RedfinNow.

Still, the iBuying division represents only about 1 percent of the company’s sales.
“It’s a new way to liquidate a house,” Mr. Kelman said, “and a tiny fraction of customers are going to buy or sell a house that way.”

But iBuying has been influential enough that many sellers are curious about it — even professional home flippers.

​Tim Gordon, a real estate investor in Southern California, found himself with a few too many properties on his hands last spring when he was preparing for his upcoming wedding. One particular property, on the eastern fringes of San Diego County, was frustrating him, so he decided to try his luck with RedfinNow, Zillow and Opendoor. To his surprise, RedfinNow offered him $670,000 — some $70,000 more than the best offer he had previously received — and he hadn’t even finished renovating.

​Sandra Costanzo said iLending offered her a lifeline during her divorce, allowing her to make an all-cash offer on a new house in Philadelphia for herself and her two children.

What Is iLending?:

The counterpart to iBuyers are iLenders, fully digital mortgage brokers like Better.com and Accept.inc. These companies can approve buyers for a mortgage at any hour of the day or night, and many offer programs that will provide the entire purchase price for a house up front, so that anyone approved for a loan can become an all-cash buyer.

In a market where the average first-time buyer tours 15 homes and makes at least five offers, according to a recent report from Opendoor, these services offer a significant advantage.
Sandra Costanzo is one of those first-time buyers. In August, while she was going through a divorce, she had six weeks to find a place to live in Philadelphia for herself and her two children. “I knew nothing about getting a mortgage, or even where to start,” said Ms. Costanzo, 33, a language teacher who is originally from Spain. “So I went online.”

Knowing she had about $70,000 for a down payment, she did a Google search for mortgage companies and was preapproved for a mortgage by Better.com. She decided to use the company’s brokerage, Better Real Estate, for her home search, and found a four-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bathroom house with a sprawling oak tree in the backyard, in an area with a good school district.

But then Ms. Costanzo began hearing stories about how competitive the housing market is, and worrying about bidding against all-cash buyers. She was reassured when her broker told her that Better.com could buy the home for her, paying the full price up front, through an iLending program started this summer called Better Cash Offer.

Most homeowners carrying a mortgage don’t have the liquidity to buy a home in cash before selling their current home, and that made this year’s market — in which 25 percent of offers were all cash, at the peak of the market — especially cutthroat.

“What’s actually happening is Better Real Estate makes the offer on their behalf,” said Paul Tyger, a purchase manager at Better.com. “It’s a particularly acute need right now. The mortgage itself hasn’t evolved since, like, the 1900s. But we think that in the future, every transaction will be all cash.”

Better.com bought the home, and within three weeks, Ms. Costanzo had bought it back, with $17,000 down. Without an iLender, she said, she would have had to settle for a rental, and the options available to her were few. “I looked at so many apartments, and they were so depressing,” she said. “I was able to do everything at night, while at home.”

Better.com makes this service available only to customers who use both its in-house brokerage and mortgage services, and it doesn’t charge fees. The company likely doesn’t need to, said Clelia Warburg Peters, the former president of Warburg Realty, who is now what is known as a proptech investor. The risk margins are low, she said, because the customer is already approved for a mortgage, and the benefits — increasing the company’s customer base — offer a payoff.

Multiple other fintech lenders, including Accept.inc and UpEquity, also offer services that make cash offers on a buyer’s behalf. There are no added fees for sellers or buyers; iLenders front the cash up to a preapproved amount and make money off mortgage and title costs.

Buying Before You Sell:

Just to keep things interesting, there’s a third category to be aware of: companies like Knock, Orchard, Homeward and Flyhomes, which bridge the gap between buying and lending.

These companies are neither iBuyers nor iLenders, but a hybrid. They use the value of buyers’ current homes to make cash offers on new homes, so buyers can avoid making bids contingent on the sale of their current homes. As anyone who has made an offer with such a contingency knows, those offers are more likely to be rejected — especially when there are other offers and the market is hot.

​But some of these services charge additional fees, just like conventional brokerages.
“Folks should take a really careful eye to look at the fees,” said Greg Schwartz, a former Zillow executive who is now the chief executive of Tomo, a digital lender that he co-founded this summer. “Some of them are offensive, and unnecessary. And that’s your savings.”

Zillow’s iBuying arm was the country’s second-largest iBuyer until the company shut it down this month, surprising thousands of sellers who used the service. Gary Byrd, who sold his house in Tampa, Fla., to Zillow in August, so he could move in with his fiancée, Maureen Peterkin, was among them.

The Post-Zillow Fallout:

In Tampa, Fla., Gary Byrd, 59, a campus facility supervisor at a community college, had recently gotten engaged and was looking to sell his 1,200-square foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom house, so he could move in with his fiancée, who had a larger home.

Mr. Byrd wanted a transaction that was quick and easy, and “didn’t want people traipsing through my house,” he said. In August, he went online and got an instant estimate from Zillow. Within a few weeks, he had a scheduled home evaluation, and a Zillow employee confirmed that the company would match the online offer of $235,000.

Zillow took 3 percent in fees, and an additional $2,000 for minor repairs, and by October the transaction was completed.

“It worked with my busy schedule,” Mr. Byrd said, “and you’re cutting the middleman out.”
He used the proceeds to pay off debt, invest in his 401(k) and buy a new truck. His experience — a seamless sale, with none of the hassle of a conventional real estate transaction — took place just weeks before the demise of Zillow’s iBuying operation.

Before its abrupt withdrawal from the iBuying market, the online real estate marketplace was taking a sizable bite out of the housing supply of several American cities, including Atlanta, Phoenix and Dallas. But Zillow was facing massive losses and has since acknowledged that it erred in forecasting prices, making offers that were too high and failing to adjust to a cooling housing market. It is now working to offload thousands of homes to institutional renters.

This would seem to be a cautionary tale of the dangers of investing in iBuying. Nevertheless, representatives from Opendoor and Offerpad have said that they are ramping up their own iBuying efforts.

Why iBuying Isn’t for Everyone:

Conventional brokerages are watching iBuyers closely, and some are responding by rolling out their own versions of the service. Keller Williams, for example, has Keller Offers. And there are websites like QuickBuy that allow brokers to offer clients services that mimic those of iBuying.

But while iBuying has flourished in big cities, especially across the Sun Belt, it has yet to gain a foothold in smaller towns, particularly among more affluent buyers.

Glen Pizzolorusso, a broker with Compass in southern Connecticut, said that his clients — most of whom are buying and selling in the $700,000 to $1 million range — remain uninterested.

“Let’s not beat around the bush,” he said. “Companies that advertise these programs are for-profit companies, and therefore need to make a profit. If they buy your house at current market value, there is no margin for profit. If you need cash quick, then by all means, give your house away to one of these iBuying companies.”

Even as technology continues to disrupt the status quo, it’s unlikely that multimillion-dollar homes will become regular iBuyer fixtures anytime soon, investors say.
“It’s important to remember that brokerages are not a behemoth,” said Ms. Peters, the proptech investor, who noted that marketing a luxury property requires an entirely different skill set from that needed to sell a middle-class home — one that is much more case-specific.

So “luxury brokerages should not be worried about iBuying,” she said, as “iBuying is functionally irrelevant for any home over a million dollars.”

​But because iBuying is still very young — Opendoor, the first iBuyer, didn’t come onto the scene until 2014 — there is no crystal ball.
​
“It does make the process of selling a home much easier for many homeowners,” said Deeksha Gupta, an assistant professor of finance at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. “And iBuyers serve a real need in the housing market, so I don’t see them going away. But it’s really hard to predict where the market is going.”

​Should You Use an iBuyer to Sell Your Home?

Maybe, If You:
• Prioritize a speedy sale above all else
• Are tech-savvy and comfortable conducting major financial transactions online
• Are not interested in bidding wars or seeing what your home can get on the open market
• Want to avoid home showings

But Think Twice, If You:
• Are wary about sharing financial information online
• Are selling a home worth more than $1 million
• Would rather be guided by a broker’s advice
• Want to get top dollar for your home
• Prefer a personal touch

[End of NY Times Article]
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Instant buyer (Wikipedia)

​Instant buyer (or iBuyer) is a real estate transaction model wherein companies purchase residential properties directly from private sellers, to eventually re-sell them.

Background:

The term ‘instant’ refers to the fact that this type of business aims to provide a faster cash offer on a property than traditional real estate brokers. 

Valuation of the property takes place online and is an instantaneous or near-instantaneous process which makes use of machine learning and AI technologies. 

Examples of companies using the iBuyer model include: 
The term iBuyer was coined by Stephen Kim, an equity research analyst at Evercore ISI on May 29, 2017 in a report to clients titled "The Rise of the iBuyer".

The iBuyer process:

iBuyer companies use computer-generated analysis of market data, information supplied by sellers, and in some cases input from local real estate agents, to make instant cash offers on residential properties. Individuals wishing to sell their house are asked to enter basic information about the property on a company’s website.

In a process largely driven by machine learning and automated data analysis, the property’s approximate value is determined and an initial offer is made.

If the offer is accepted by the seller, the company arranges an inspection of the property to ensure that the data supplied is concomitant with the actual condition of the building.

From a seller’s perspective, the process of selling his or her property can take under two weeks.

Once an iBuyer company has purchased a property, it arranges for any necessary repairs or modifications to be carried out in the building. The property is then re-sold.

Businesses operating under the iBuyer transaction model make their profit on the fees incurred on the seller, which are typically marginally higher (1-4%) than those charged by traditional real estate companies. 

From an Instant buyer company’s perspective, the higher fees cover the investment risk involved in holding the property for a potentially long period of time. For a seller, the fees are paid in exchange for a much faster property-selling process than with a traditional real estate model and for avoiding the need to make repairs and improvements to the property prior to selling.







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