Update:Nationwide Housing/Transportation Cost Index Expands Nationwide; Includes Portland Data.

Two updates

1. I have created a two page example HERE of the H+T index applied to Portland. First page shows cost burden results using 80% of regional median income for block group, City of Lake Oswego, Multnomah County, and Portland Metro. Second page shows same geographies but cost burdens at 100% of regional median income. [For Moderate Income renters costs burdens for block group, Lake Oswego, Multnomah County were all HIGHER than region as a whole; for renters at 100% of median income, cost burdens were closer to region as a whole for housing, but still higher for housing and transportation costs].

2. In listening to the audio teleconference I noted that Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer was supposed to be on the call to announce introduction of legislation requiring multiple listing companies to provide transportation/ housing cost information for property listings. He did not appear on the call, which may signal the bill is still being discussed/revised.(My initial take is that better way to go may be to provide CLEAR incentives for location efficient mortgages so that qualified buyers will choose to live in homes with low transit/ housing costs; I believe FHA may be working on a pilot LEM project to test and further refine this concept).

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Penny Wise and Pound Fuelish is HERE; it provides details on an index used to produce values for an expanded group of 337 metro areas.

The H+T Index relies on the U.S. Census’ Selected Monthly Owner Costs (SMOC) and Gross Rent to arrive at the housing half of the equation. These Census variables include: utility expenses, mortgage payments, rent payments, condominium and other fees, real estate taxes, and premiums for home owners insurance.

Transportation costs are calculated using nine variables, most of which are derived from the 2000 U.S. Census, that are divided between neighborhood (residential density, gross density, average block size, transit connectivity index, job density, and average journey to work time) and household (household income, household size, and commuters per household) characteristics. These variables are used to predict, at a census block group level, three dependent variables – auto ownership, auto use, and public transit usage – from which transportation costs are calculated.

Portland Data:
One view of Portland metro data is available HERE; other menu choices will allow zooming into neighborhood/block groups. (The view HERE shows that average transportation/housing costs for renters is 41% of income).


Teleconference Audio
An audio of a March 23rd teleconference held with the HUD and DOT officials to recognize the the roll out of the expanded use of this index is HERE.

Note that this nationwide index differs from that used by Metro in their Urban Growth and Transportation plans'; Metro uses a one off method that can't be replicated nationally.

Starting at page 18 of the document, a series of policy suggestions are made to integrate the use of the index in federal government policies housing and transportation policies.

The combined transportation and housing index has been funded by The Brookings Urban Markets Initiative, Center for Housing Policy of the National Housing Conference, Chicago Community Trust, The Energy Foundation, Grand Victoria Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Searle Funds at the Chicago Community Trust, Surdna Foundation and Wallace Global Fund.(The Rockefeller Foundation funded the expansion to 337 areas).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.