Today's Wall Street Journal article "Vermont Mortgage Laws Shut The Door on Bust — and Boom" examines Vermont's low rate of foreclosure and attributes it, in part, to banking regulations and land use practices.
Data and Statistics
Vermont home price appreciation 24th strongest in nation
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) (formerly the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight [OFHEO]) announced its first quarter 2009 home sale appreciation index in May.
This is a good data source because it measures true appreciation — meaning same house price changes — instead of tracking median sales prices.
Vermont
Survey: Property managers satisfied with RSC
Excerpt taken from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's "Multifamily Property Managers' Satisfaction with Service Coordination" report:
A recent study evaluated the level of satisfaction among property managers with the provision of service coordination that links residents of HUD-assisted, multifamily housing to needed supportive services.
Overall, the study found a high level of satisfaction with the program and a strong belief among property managers that service coordination improves residents' quality of life.
Report: Burlington ranks low in housing affordability
The Center for Housing Policy today released a report that shows Burlington, Vermont, is the 33rd most expensive metropolitan area in the country for housing rentals.
For homeownership, Burlington ties with Sacramento, Calif., as the 56th most expensive in the nation.
(San Francisco takes top "honors" on both lists.)
The numbers come from "Paycheck to Paycheck: Wages and the Cost of Housing in America," which examines the housing affordability of 210 metropolitan areas for 60 occupations.
Housing data updates
We made two updates to the Vermont Housing Data Web site this week.
On Monday we did a regularly-scheduled update of the Directory of Affordable Rental Housing (DoARH).
The DoARH is a searchable database of all subsidized rental housing in the state.
This morning we updated the "Vermont housing data profiles" section of the site.
In that section, we added or updated:
Report: Vermont one of least affordable states for renters
Vermonters who rent their homes live in the 15th most expensive state in the nation for renters, according to a new report.
"Out of Reach 2008-2009" was released today by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a Washington, D.C.-based housing advocacy group, and the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition.
The report provides data for every state, metropolitan area and county in the country, comparing 52 jurisdictions, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Rural Vermont ranks in the top 10 most expensive rural areas in the nation.
Report: Rentals exceed SSI income
A new report shows people with disabilities who rely on Supplemental Social Security (SSI) income are hard-pressed to afford even simple one-bedroom or studio apartments.
The Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task Force publishes its "Priced Out" report every other year.
Its most recent edition, published yesterday, shows Vermont's average rent for a modest one-bedroom apartment is more — nearly 108 percent — than the entire monthly income for someone with disabilities living on SSI.
Vermont's economic projections
Uncertainty is a consistent theme among economists these days, with each round of projections for Vermont's plight worse than the last.
Columnist Robert Samuelson explained to the audience at a Vermont economy conference in early January the only other national economic experience like this was the spiraling inflation of the 1970s because, like now, people could not see where it would end.
Housing data site adds charts
We managed a significant accomplishment this week when we added a charting function to the Vermont Housing Data site.
Users of the site's Vermont housing data profiles section will now see charts in addition to tabular data when they opt to view historical information for any data item.
As before, users can also choose to save historical data as Excel files.
Vermont foreclosure rate lowest in nation
According to an article that appeared on bloomberg.com yesterday, Vermont has the lowest foreclosure rate in the nation: 0.04% of all homes in the state.
"Vermont is avoiding the foreclosure crisis plaguing homeowners across the U.S., perhaps owing to traditions of thrift, modesty and self-reliance — bolstered by laws that protect buyers and land," writes Brian Sullivan.
Read the entire article at the Bloomberg site.