November 29, 2022

HUD and Census Bureau: 2021 Rental Housing Finance Survey Findings Released

Survey Finds Nearly Half of Rental Units are in Properties with Four or Fewer Units

Of the 49.5 million rental housing units in the U.S., nearly 46 percent are located in rental properties of one-to-four units, according to the latest Rental Housing Finance Survey (RHFS) data released today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau. For these small rental properties, 70 percent (15.9 million) are owned by individual investors, and more than one-third (8.1 million) have a mortgage or similar debt.

“The Rental Housing Finance Survey provides insight on the financial, managerial, and physical characteristics of rental properties nationwide,” said Solomon Greene, HUD’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. “Given that the survey was in the field during 2021, it will help the Administration to better understand how rental property owners responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Rental Housing Finance Survey is funded by HUD and is collected every three years by the Census Bureau. The RHFS is the most comprehensive survey of rental housing properties in the United States, covering topics such as property configuration, ownership and management, rental income and expenses, financing, and capital improvements and expenses. Today’s release includes summary tables (www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/rhfs/#/) for the nation. Public Use File (PUF) microdata will be released in mid-December.

Below are highlights from the national level findings among the 19.3 million rental properties, which contain 49.5 million rental units.

Rental Property Configuration

Ownership and Management

Rental Income and Expenses

Property Purchase, Value, and Financing

Capital Expenses and Improvements

* All differences in this release are statistically significant at the 90% confidence level.

This post was originally published here.