HUD's 2009 American Housing Survey Results for Charlotte, North Carolina, Real Estate

The American Housing Survey (AHS), funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau is the largest housing sample survey done in the U.S.

The primary focus of the survey is to provide data on the number and characteristics of U.S. housing units as well as information on the people living in those housing units and relate the people characteristics to the housing characteristics.

The AHS uses a longitudinal sample, which means that the Census Bureau goes back to the same housing unit with each new survey. This allows HUD and the Census Bureau to see how housing units and people served in those units change over time.

The survey was conducted annually from 1973 until 1981 and every odd-numbered year since. The last survey results came out in 2007. Since 1985, survey data in both the national and metropolitan area samples are collected from the same homes. With each new national or metropolitan survey, new housing units are added to the sample to account for new construction since the last survey.

"This important survey provides us a clear picture of the American home and its occupants," said Dr. Raphael Bostic, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. "The housing crisis makes clear the need for continued collection of high quality housing data to help us understand housing markets. The numbers behind this survey not only provide valuable information on the composition of our housing stock, but they also help us monitor the mortgage markets, measure worst-case housing needs, and inform our policy choices."

The AHS is a comprehensive national sample of more than 130 million residential housing units, providing information on single-family homes, apartments, vacant homes, family composition, housing and neighborhood quality, income, race, age and sex of householders, housing costs, housing equipment, heating fuels, size and composition of housing units as well as data on mortgages, rent control, rent subsidies and transitory patterns of households. Highlights of Hud's 2009 American Housing Survey Results

Compared to homes of 1973, when the survey was first established, homes today are larger and have more bedrooms and bathrooms. New homes are even bigger. The median size of a new home is 2,300 square feet. 80% of these homes have three or more bedrooms and most homes today have six or more rooms. The median age of the American home is 36 years old.

65% of homes today have central air-conditioning compared to 17% in 1973. 98% of homes have a telephone and 99%of the units have complete plumbing facilities (only 60% of the world's population has access to a functioning toilet). 98% of U.S. homes also have refrigerators and cooking ranges in full kitchens and the majority have dishwashers, garbage disposals, washing machines and dryers.

The survey also revealed that most families with young children live within a mile of a public elementary school, the most common home heating fuel in the U.S. is gas and only a 1/3 of American homes have a working carbon monoxide detector.

If there's something you would like to know about housing in the U.S., you'll probably be able to find what you're looking for in the AHS. To find out more about HUD's 2009 American Housing Survey results, please visit Hud.gov.

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