EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EST, DECEMBER 2, 1998 (WEDNESDAY) Public Information Office CB98-224 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Howard Savage 301-457-3199 Property Taxes and Parking Restrictions Were Leading Complaints of Multifamily Property Owners, Census Bureau Says The most frequent complaints from owners of multifamily properties in 1995 were local property taxes and parking restrictions, according to a report released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. The report, What We Have Learned About Properties, Owners, and Tenants from the 1995 Property Owners and Managers Survey, H121/98-1, groups multifamily properties into three categories small properties with two to four units, medium-sized properties with five to 49 units and large properties with 50 or more units. "Taxes and parking led the list of complaints regardless of the size of the multifamily property," said Howard Savage, Census Bureau analyst. Large-property owners indicated the Americans with Disabilities Act, rent control and waste disposal requirements were all equally troublesome as their third complaints. Medium-sized property owners ranked rent controls third, and small property owners complained about lead- based paint requirements," Savage added. Other highlights from the report include: In 1995, there were 2.2 million multifamily properties with fewer than five units, more than 459,000 properties with five to 49 units and nearly 60,000 properties with 50 or more units. (The survey only included privately held properties.) Investors acquired properties in all three multifamily categories primarily for rental income. Overall, 58 percent of multifamily properties made a profit or broke even, 27 percent had a loss and 16 percent were not sure if they had made or lost money. Owners of about 52 percent of small properties, 36 percent of medium-sized properties and 22 percent of large properties said they were not aware of the Section 8 rent subsidy program. Section 8 is a federal rent subsidy program sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Renovation of bathroom facilities, replacement of kitchen facilities and the upgrading of heating systems were the top three capital improvements from 1990-1995. About half of the multifamily property owners were between 45 and 64 years old; 85 percent were White, 8 percent were African American and 4 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander. Six percent of multifamily properties were owned by Hispanic individuals (who may be of any race). One in eight properties included handicap-accessible units; 91 percent of those units were paid for by the owners, and 4 percent shared costs with tenants. The information presented above is from the 1995 Property Owners and Managers Survey. As in all surveys, the data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of error.-X-The U.S. Census Bureau, pre-eminent collector and disseminator of timely, relevant and quality data about the people and the economy of the United States, conducts a population and housing census every 10 years, an economic census every five years and more than 100 demographic and economic surveys every year, all of them evolving from the first census in 1790.
