AHS Digest

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Here are the AHS Digest messages:


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From: david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov on 1/7/2004 11:46:20 AM
Subject: OT: Employment Opportunities at HUD

The Office of Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development, has just released three job announcements for research
economists in the GS-11 to GS-13 ($48,451 to $89,774 per year) range. To view
the particulars, go to https://www.usajobs.gov/ and search for these vacancy
announcement numbers:

HQ-DEU-2004-0020z
HQ-DEU-2004-0021z
HQ-DEU-2004-0022z

The first of those announcements includes openings in the Division of Housing
and Demographic Analysis, the part of PD&R that runs the American Housing
Survey.

Closing date for applications is January 20, 2004. You do need to be a U.S.
citizen.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890


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From: david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov on 1/8/2004 9:21:31 AM
Subject: AHS: New Reports on Rental Dynamics and Housing Loss

Two new analytic studies using the American Housing Survey have been posted on
the HUD USER web site. Both were written by ICF Consulting and Econometrica,
Inc., under contract with HUD. To download the documents in PDF format, go to
"More AHS Data and Publications,"

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html

Scroll down to the "AHS Based Analyses" section. Here are summaries of the
documents:

Title: The Destruction of Housing Capital: A Preliminary Exploration into
Demolitions and Disasters

With the exception of fine art and jewelry, housing is the most durable of all
consumer expenditures. According to the American Housing Survey (AHS), more
than ten million units constructed prior to 1920 still survive in the United
States. European cities and the surrounding countryside provide countless
examples of structures built in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries that
continue to furnish safe and comfortable habitats. Yet numerous housing units
-- both old and new -- are torn down or otherwise destroyed every year in this
country. Between 1999 and 2001, 1.5 million housing units disappeared
permanently. Fires and natural disasters account for some of these losses but
owners voluntarily demolished many other units.

We know little about this phenomenon. For example, how much capital is lost
annually, which units are most susceptible to being loss, and what motivates
owners to destroy housing capital? A better understanding of these issues could
give us useful insights into important social questions. The price and tenure
status of the units being lost affects the availability of affordability
housing. The costs of regional economic dislocation include the impacts of
declining population on the housing stock. Neighborhood transformations involve
both people changes and structural changes. For these reasons, the Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) commissioned this exploratory study of
housing loss.

This paper has two modest goals. First, we will examine how to use the AHS to
study these questions. The AHS has features that make it well suited to an
analysis of housing loss, particularly its large sample size, extensive
information on the physical characteristics of the units, good neighborhood
data, and the ability to track the same unit over time. However, researchers
must first deal with a number of conceptual and data problems. Second, we will
use the AHS to analyze, in a preliminary fashion, what units are destroyed and
why.

Title: RENTAL MARKET DYNAMICS: IS AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR THE POOR AN ENDANGERED
SPECIES?

The market for housing differs from the market for other necessities such as
food or clothing in that supply does not respond to demand quickly. The
construction of new housing takes time, and a variety of factors generally
channels the supply of new housing into the high-priced end of the market. For
one thing, building codes and zoning rules add to the cost of new housing.
Also, it is impractical to build a "run-down" unit affordable to the poor in
the same way that it is impractical to build a new "clunker" for the poor to
drive. Just as the poor turn to the used car market for their cars, they turn
to older units for their housing. The exceptions are if the housing was
subsidized in its development.

As units age, housing units are said to "filter" down from serving higher
income occupants to serving lower income occupants. But filtration takes time
and is uncertain. Shifts in demand, such as higher income households being
attracted back to the central city, can cause units to filter up. Rising land
prices can push up rents even as the quality of a unit deteriorates.

This study uses American Housing Survey data to examine the changes in the
rental housing stock in six metropolitan area (Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles,
New York, Philadelphia, and Northern New Jersey) over the period 1995-1999. It
tracks the sources of new rental housing, the reasons for loss of rental
housing, and changes in affordability of the existing rental housing stock.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890


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From: "Richard Levy" <rlevy@nmhc.org> on 1/9/2004 12:19:03 PM
Subject: file flattening program for Stata

Has anyone developed a Stata program that merges the seven or so AHS files
into one flat file? If so, would you be willing to share it? Please let me
know. Thank you.
 
Richard Levy
Research Analyst
National Multi Housing Council
www.nmhc.org
202.974.2343


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From: david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov on 1/9/2004 2:59:24 PM
Subject: Re: file flattening program for Stata

Richard Levy (www.nmhc.org) asks:

>>Has anyone developed a Stata program that merges the seven or so AHS files
into one flat file? <<

I'd love to have a copy for the user-supplied programs library on our web site.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890


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From: "Robertson, Suparna" <SRobertson@ci.san-leandro.ca.us> on 1/9/2004 3:15:19 PM
Subject: CHANGE E-MAIL

[IMAGE]

Please change my e-mail address to snr_hud@yahoo.com

 

 

Suparna Robertson

Community Development (Housing Division)

835 East 14th Street

San Leandro, CA 94577

Phone: 510.577.6002

Fax: 510.577.6007

srobertson@ci.san-leandro.ca.us

http://www.ci.san-leandro.ca.us

 

 


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From: david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov on 1/12/2004 7:53:43 AM
Subject: Re: User supplied programs?

One of our users asks:

>>Where is this part of the website located?<<

I thought it might be worthwhile to mention this to the whole list. The library
of user-supplied programs is a zip archive that can be downloaded from the
"other stuff" page on the HUD USER web site,
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahs.html . It is in the section on
Computer Programs. You may download it either as a standard zip file or as a
self-extracting zip (exe) file.

Most of the programs in the library are SAS programs to read different the
ASCII files for older AHS years and turn them into SAS datasets. There are also
some files to help you convert the 2001 income limits file to Stata.

I'd really like to see more programs from users of SPSS, Stata, and other
statistical packages. Don't be shy.

Dav Vandenbroucke
Economist
U.S. Dept. HUD
david_a._vandenbroucke@hud.gov
202-708-1060 ext. 5890


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