Some highlights for the U.S. Include:
Physical Characteristics
• The median year occupied homes were built in the U.S. was 1974.
• Nationally, piped gas was the most prevalent home heating source, used by 50.4 percent of occupied homes. Electricity was used by 35.3 percent.
• Among owner-occupied homes in the U.S., 46.3 percent had working carbon monoxide detectors.
• Among all U.S. homes, 72.5 percent of owner-occupied units had central air.
Financial Characteristics
• Median monthly expenditures for homeowners in the U.S. totaled $151 for real estate taxes, $121 for electricity and $58 for property insurance.
• Among U.S. owner-occupied homes, 65.4 percent had a regular and/or home equity mortgage and 23.4 percent had a refinanced primary mortgage.
• The median monthly mortgage payment for homeowners was $1,015 in 2011.
FNC Index: Home Prices Continue to Rise Steadily
In other positive housing news, the latest FNC Residential Price Index™ (RPI) shows that U.S. home prices continue to steadily improve, climbing another 0.5% in May in conjunction with continued improvement in housing market fundamentals. Notably, the FNC RPI shows that the pace at which home prices are rising is rather modest, averaging 0.4% per month in the last six months. Similarly, the rate of annual price appreciation appears to be much slower and sustainable than reported by a number of other closely watched price indices.
