Fair Market Rent Data

Last updated: 09/29/2024

Fair Market Rents (FMRs) are used to determine payment standard amounts for the Housing Choice Voucher program, to determine initial renewal rents for some expiring project-based Section 8 contracts, to determine initial rents for housing assistance payment (HAP) contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program (Mod Rehab), rent ceilings for rental units in both the HOME Investment Partnerships program and the Emergency Solution Grants program, calculation of maximum award amounts for Continuum of Care recipients and the maximum amount of rent a recipient may pay for property leased with Continuum of Care funds, and calculation of flat rents in Public Housing units. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) annually estimates FMRs for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defined metropolitan areas, some HUD defined subdivisions of OMB metropolitan areas and each nonmetropolitan county. 42 USC 1437f requires FMRs be posted at least 30 days before they are effective and that they are effective at the start of the federal fiscal year (generally October 1).

Location Affordability Index (HUD)

Last updated: 09/29/2024

The Location Affordability Index (LAI) estimates the percentage of a family’s income dedicated to the combined cost of housing and transportation in a given location. Because what is “affordable” is different for everyone, users can choose among a diverse set of family profiles—which vary by household income, size, and number of commuters—and see the affordability landscape for each in a given neighborhood, city, or region. LAIM Version 2 employs an SEM regression analysis for auto ownership, transit use and housing costs and a second-order flexible form of ordinary least squares (OLS) model for VMT. It allows for all of the input variables to be used in the calculation of the coefficients. This somewhat complex modeling technique is employed to better model interactions between the endogenous variables. The goodness of fit is now measured by a combination of measures rather than by a simple R-squared value (see Section V. Model Structure and Formula, Aii. on goodness of fit measures on page 22 for further discussion). Additionally, to keep the model as simple as possible, input measures of transit access are no longer used. However since two endogenous variables are themselves measure of transit use (i.e., percent of commuters using transit for journey to work for home-owners and renters), the model works well. These revisions allow LAIM Version 2 to model housing and transportation costs by tenure for households in urban, suburban, and rural settings.

Difficult Development Area (HUD)

Last updated: 09/29/2024

Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Qualified Census Tracts must have 50 percent of households with incomes below 60 percent of the Area Median Gross Income (AMGI) or have a poverty rate of 25 percent or more. Difficult Development Areas (DDA) are designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and are based on Fair Market Rents, income limits, the 2010 census counts, and 2006–10 5-year American Community Survey data when they become available.