New data available on HousingData.org

Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA)’s HousingData.org website has recently been updated to display the latest housing data available. The data updates include the newly released 2017 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, as well as 2018 home sales data from the Vermont Department of Taxes.

The website’s Community Profiles offer data for every Vermont town and county, helping planners, nonprofits, government agencies, and elected officials identify housing needs. The profiles display data and vetted community housing indicators based on a variety of national and Vermont-based sources. The site, which has been maintained by VHFA since 2003, was overhauled this past fall to display new interactive data visualizations and offer a wider range of information than ever before.

Since the launch, several new data sets have been added to the site, including wages by occupation, median gross rent by number of bedrooms, and housing stock by number of bedrooms. The site’s affordable home price calculator, allowing users to determine affordability based on the price of the home and the household income, has also been updated. VHFA has also created several tools to compare towns and villages incomes to residents countywide and to assess town home price affordability based on county incomes. By comparing local conditions to the larger area, municipalities can more easily examine whether their housing supply fits the needs of current and potential residents.  

The site will be updated as new data is available, and new data visualizations continue to be added to the site regularly.