Volume 4 Number 7
July/August 2007

In this Issue
Affordability and Energy-Efficiency Mark New Virginia Homes
Safeguarding Housing Affordability through Impact Fee Design
In the (Empowerment) Zone
Dynamics of the Affordable Rental Housing Supply
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• Launched by HUD in 1996, the Homeownership Zone (HOZ) demonstration program is part of a national strategy to expand homeownership. Eleven demonstration cities in the U.S. are presently testing the idea that a well-designed, large-scale, mixed-income housing development can transform a blighted neighborhood into an attractive, safe, and healthy place for families. We値l provide an overview of an interim evaluation recently conducted to review the progress of the demonstration sites, to examine data that has accrued, and to identify emerging best practices that will be useful to other localities.

• Do homes of elderly homeowners appreciate at the same rate as the average house in their local market? This is an important question for homeowners who are planning their financial future and has implications for policy designed to support elderly citizens, as well as the reverse mortgage insurance program. We値l examine a study that explores this relationship between age and housing appreciation.

• HUD receives quarterly aggregated data on addresses the U. S. Postal Service identifies as vacant or inactive in the previous quarter. We make this content available to researchers and practitioners interested in assessing the data痴 usefulness for tracking neighborhood change on a quarterly basis. The data are available publicly at the census tract level to users who agree to the terms and conditions of the sublicense. We値l examine the basic USPS data available from HUD, as well as other data that may be of use to practitioners and researchers.

• HUD now has the results of a 2005 survey of the worst case housing needs in the United States. We値l examine the nature of worst case needs, who is experiencing these housing difficulties, where they are located, and how enduring this problem is for American households. In light of these findings, we値l also explore the supply of housing available to meet worst case housing needs.