WASHINGTON – Jan. 8, 2013 – Nearly 20 percent of recent movers identified “convenience to job” as the top factor in their choice of neighborhood in 2011, according to the just-released 2011 American Housing Survey (AHS).

Compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the survey results are online and easily accessed for the first time, giving real estate agents access to data that can help them hone a marketing campaign. How many county homes are rentals? How many homes have a mortgage? How much of an owners’ income goes to housing costs?

Survey results can be accessed through the Census Bureau’s American FactFinder data access tool.

The survey covers a wide range of specific topics, though not all can be analyzed down to the local level. However, it includes data on plumbing; housing problems; homeowner’s satisfaction with home and neighborhood; value, purchase price and type of mortgage; recent home improvement activity and costs; safety features and potential health hazards; home accessibility to people with disabilities; and socio-economic characteristics of homeowners.

Highlights from latest survey:

• The median year homes were built was 1974, with owner-occupied units being slightly newer (1976 compared with 1972 for renter-occupied).

• The median size of single-family detached and mobile home units is 1,800 square feet, with owner-occupied units being larger (1,800 square feet) than renter-occupied ones (1,300 square feet). Newly constructed units are also usually larger, with a median size of 2,200 square feet.

• Most homes have three or more bedrooms (64 percent).

• About half the homes (52 percent) have two or more bathrooms. Again, new units have more bathrooms, with 83 percent of them having two or more.

• More than eight in 10 units have a washing machine (83 percent) and clothes dryer (81 percent).

• About two-thirds of the units (66 percent) have central air-conditioning and another 22 percent have window units.

• About seven in 10 respondents (71 percent) rate their homes highly with 29 percent giving them the “best” rating of 10. Residents of new construction tend to rate their homes even more highly, with 84 percent giving them a rating between eight and 10 and 46 percent rating them as a 10.

• Recent movers were asked how they found their current unit. The most common methods: talking with a real estate agent (20 percent), Realtor.com (17 percent) and word of mouth (16 percent). For renters, the most common ways included word of mouth (34 percent), sign on the outside of the building (11 percent) and Craigslist (11 percent).

• On average, households pay $927 per month, or 24 percent of their household income, for housing. The cost is higher for residents of new construction, with median cost being $1,340 per month or 24 percent of household income. Renters generally pay less in housing costs ($845 versus $1,008 for owners per month), but they usually pay a higher percentage of their household income (31 percent versus 20 percent for owners).

• More than a fifth (21 percent) of all primary mortgage holders reported a change in their monthly payment in the last 12 months. The main reason for their payment change was because of a change in property taxes or homeowners insurance (71 percent).

• Twelve percent of households reported a smoker living in the unit.

• Sixteen percent of units reported having a swimming pool.

• Mold was reported in 4 percent of housing units. Respondents most commonly reported mold sighting in their bathrooms (45 percent), bedrooms (22 percent) and basements (20 percent).

• The cost of an average kitchen remodel was $5,000. Adding or renovating a kitchen, however, was much more expensive ($27,353). The average bathroom cost $2,432 to remodel, with renovations or additions costing an average of $3,422.

© 2013 Florida Realtors®