MARCH 3, 2021 — Today the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the release of new public use files for the 2018 Rental Housing Finance Survey (RHFS). The RHFS provides measures of financial, mortgage and property characteristics of U.S. residential properties with at least one housing rental unit. It is the only data source that provides a comprehensive picture of mortgage financing for all types of rental properties.

The RHFS collects data on the following:

• Property characteristics – property value, purchase price, year built, year acquired, number of buildings, number of rental units and recent improvements and upgrades.
• Rental status and monthly rents in residential buildings.
• Commercial use of space with residential structures.
• Property management status.
• Ownership status.
• Benefits received from federal, state, local and nongovernmental programs.
• Mortgage characteristics - number of mortgages (or debts) on the property, original/ outstanding loan amounts, interest rate and frequency of payments (biweekly, monthly, annually, one-time, etc.).

The Census Bureau conducts this HUD-sponsored survey. Data were collected from May-September 2018. The survey reference period was all 12 months of 2017.

For more information about the RHFS, visit <www.census.gov/programs-surveys/rhfs.html>.

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