Affordability and Availability of Rental Housing in the Third Federal Reserve District: 2012

By Keith Wardrip, Thomas Hylands, and Joshua Strazanac

This report represents the third in a series of rental housing affordability analyses conducted by the Community Development Studies and Education (CDS&E) Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. It uses the latest available data to explore rental housing affordability conditions and trends for communities in the Third District between 2005 and 2010.

The housing market has undergone significant changes in recent years. By analyzing current data, we can begin to understand how these changes have affected rental housing affordability. In this report, we analyze the rental housing market in the Third District in an effort to shed light on the affordability challenges faced by low-income households.

Reports published in 2010 and 2011 by the department are not directly comparable to this analysis because of differences in the geographies covered, the data sets used, and the methodologies employed. As a result of these differences, which are explained in the documentation file below, we strongly recommend against comparing estimates from one report to another.

Summary of Third District Findings: Summarizes rental housing affordability trends in the Third District from 2005 to 2010. HTML | PDF (560 KB, 8 pages)
Tables (302 KB, 12 pages): Provide estimates of rental housing cost burden, the affordability and availability of rental housing units, and housing quality issues for the Third District as a whole, as well as for the portions of the states, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), and counties that lie within the Third District. (The Third District covers all of Delaware, southern New Jersey, and the eastern two-thirds of Pennsylvania. Supplementary tables (133 KB, 2 pages) provide estimates for the full states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.)
Documentation (478 KB, 8 pages): Includes a description of the data, a detailed methodology, information helpful in interpreting each of the tables, and an explanation of why this analysis is not directly comparable with prior CDS&E reports.
Map (299 KB, 1 page): Illustrates the geographic boundaries of the Third Federal Reserve District.

Last updated: February 4, 2013

E-Mail Notification

Find out when information for community development publications and events is released.

Contact Us

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
Community Development Studies and Education Department
Ten Independence Mall
Philadelphia, PA 19106-1574

(215) 574-6458 – phone
(215) 574-2512 – fax
info.communitydevelopment
@phil.frb.org

View All Contacts

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF PHILADELPHIA . TEN INDEPENDENCE MALL . PHILADELPHIA, PA 19106-1574 . TEL: (215) 574-6000