Survey: 40 percent of U.S. properties paid in full

The survey looked at all privately owned nonfarm properties and all sources of mortgage financing, according to a news release. Data collection involved interviews with the owner-occupants and owners of rental properties, with further data collection from the holders of the mortgage loans. The source for estimates in the report is part of the decennial Census.

Extensive information on housing finance is reported for owners and mortgage holders interviewed in 2001. For example:

• About a quarter of all mortgages are insured or guaranteed by private mortgage insurance companies, Federal Housing Administration, Veteran’s Administration, Rural Housing Service or state agencies.

• As a result of refinancing and residential mobility, 60 percent of mortgages for single-family properties are fairly new, having originated within the four years prior to the survey.

• Between 1991 and 2001, total mortgage debt outstanding increased by more than 80 percent. (Residential mortgage debt has continued to grow since the survey and has increased another 50 percent between 2001 and the first quarter of 2005, according to Federal Reserve statistics.)

• Installment loans used to finance manufactured or mobile homes are predominately supplied by finance companies.

The survey also collected information on the characteristics of the housing units or properties, including location, year built, year acquired, purchase price and current value, age restrictions, recent capital improvements and any receipt of subsidy or assistance. The basic demographics of the owners were collected including age, race, sex, veteran status and income.

The main purpose of the survey was to collect information about mortgage financing. The report contains information for all first mortgages including: application method, reasons for refinancing, amounts and uses of cash-outs, year of origination, use of mortgage insurance or guarantees, type of mortgage, origination amounts and current balance, interest rate, interest rate buy-downs, original and remaining term of the mortgage, indexes and caps used for adjustable rate mortgages, and items included in and amounts of monthly payments. Similar but less detailed information is reported for junior mortgages and home equity lines of credit.

For rental properties, information is reported on rental income, vacancy losses, real estate taxes, costs for maintenance and repairs, utility and fuel expenses, administrative and management expenses, capital improvement expenditures and legal form of ownership.

The report chapters are organized by tenure – owner-occupied and rental and vacant units – and by number of units in the property. There are separate chapters for condominiums and for manufactured (mobile) homes. The full report is available online at www.hud.gov.

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