The data on value (also referred to as "price asked" for vacant units) were obtained from questionnaire item H6, which was asked at housing units that were owned, being bought, or vacant for sale at the time of enumeration. Value is the respondent's estimate of how much the property (house and lot, mobile home and lot, or condominium unit) would sell for if it were for sale. If the house or mobile home was owned or being bought, but the land on which it sits was not, the respondent was asked to estimate the combined value of the house or mobile home and the land. For vacant units, value was the price asked for the property.
Value was tabulated separately for all owner-occupied and vacant-for-sale housing units, owner-occupied and vacant-for-sale mobile homes or trailers, and specified owner-occupied and specified vacant-for-sale housing units. Specified owner-occupied and specified vacant-for-sale housing units include only one-family houses on fewer than 10 acres without a business or medical office on the property. The data for "specified units" exclude mobile homes, houses with a business or medical office, houses on 10 or more acres, and housing units in multi-unit buildings.
Median and Quartile Value
The median divides the value distribution into two equal parts. Quartiles divide the value distribution into four equal parts. These measures are rounded to the nearest hundred dollars. (For more information on medians and quartiles, see the discussion under "Derived Measures.")
To calculate aggregate value, the amount assigned for the category "Less than $10,000" is $9,000. The amount assigned to the category "$500,000 or more" is $600,000. Mean value is rounded to the nearest hundred dollars. (For more information on aggregates and means, see the discussion under "Derived Measures.")
In 1980, value was asked only at owner-occupied or vacantfor- sale one-family houses on fewer than 10 acres with no business or medical office on the property and at all owner-occupied or vacant-for-sale condominium housing units. Mobile homes were excluded. Value data were presented for specified owner-occupied housing units, specified vacant-for-sale- only housing units, and owner-occupied condominium housing units.
In 1990, the question was asked at all owner-occupied or vacant-for-sale-only housing units with no exclusions. Data presented for specified owner-occupied and specified vacant-for-sale-only housing units will include one-family condominium houses but not condominiums in multi-unit structures since condominium units are now identified only in long-form questionnaires.
For 1990, quartiles have been added because the range of values and rents in the United States has increased in recent years. Upper and lower quartiles can be used to note large value and rent differences among various geographic areas.
