Community associations expand reach as planned neighborhoods, condo villages spring up
By Jim Parker
CTW Features
The term may be vague, but there’s more than a one-in-five chance your residential enclave counts as one. Moreover, its meetings may be standing-room-only affairs. And what happens at those gatherings impacts the entire area.
These places are community associations. According to the Foundation for Community Association Research, they also go by such names as planned communities, homeowners or property owners associations, condominium communities and housing cooperatives.
A new report from the Falls Church, Virginia-based foundation concluded that 21.3 percent of the U.S. population– 69 million people – resides in a community association. What’s significant is that the association boards often include homeowners who serve on a voluntary basis to help out their communities, according to the group. It developed the findings in partnership with the Community Associations Institute, described as a leading authority on association education and governance. The foundation yearly publishes the National and State Statistical Review for Community Association Data, a practice dating back more than 40 years.
According to the 2016 report, the institute estimates there are 345,000-347,000 community associations as of this year. Homeowners associations make up 51–55 percent, condos account for 42–45 percent and cooperatives, 3-4 percent. In 1970, the country consisted of 10,000 community associations with about 2.1 million residents, meaning the growth since then stands at 10 fold. Total housing units during the 46-year time frame soared to 26.3 million from 700,000 in 1970.
“By their inherent nature, community associations bring people together, strengthen neighborhood bonds and promote a sense of community and belonging,” said Thomas M. Skiba, the institute’s chief executive. “As we witness the steady expansion with community associations worldwide, these attributes cannot be overlooked.
“Purchasing a home in a community association offers a diverse choice of services and amenities few Americans can individually afford without the shared responsibility enabled by community associations.”
Florida ranks first in community associations at 47,900, home to 9.6 million residents. California places second at 45,400 communities, then Texas with 19,900, Illinois at 18,600, North Carolina with 13,900 and New York at 13,800 communities. South Carolina stands 16th with 6,800 community associations.
Among other report findings, home values in community associations total close to $5.5 trillion. Homeowner assessments of $88 billion are collected each year to fund essential maintenance, according to the institute.
The report sets out its top reasons for community association growth, notably:
1. Collective management’s value. In the case of community oversight, association boards are comprised of elected homeowners who voluntarily serve, the foundation notes.
2. Public services turned over to private bodies. Many cities and towns face fiscal challenges, according to the foundation, so they require community developers to assume duties that may have belonged to state and local governments, such as road maintenance, trash removal and storm water management.
3. Rising rates of affordable housing. In a bid to increase homeownership in the U.S., more inexpensive properties have helped out – particularly for first-time buyers. Condominiums tend to serve as low-cost entry housing, according to the foundation.
4. Improving efficiency in the housing market. According to the foundation, community associations maintain home values, while reducing the need for government oversight and expenses by providing services and responding to local worries.
Elsewhere, the report notes a steady uptick in communities, housing units and residents since 2010. Regions with the most associations tend to fall on the Eastern Seaboard, Great Lakes region, the West and Texas. Just seven states – Alaska, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming – count fewer than 1,000 associations.
According to the foundation study, 6,000-9,000 associations are considered “large scale,” typically meeting criteria such as a minimum 1,000 neighborhood lots and/or homes and a minimum $2 million annual budget.
All told, there are more than 2.6 million board and committee members on the 342,000 associations as of 2016, performing 80 million hours of service a year and racking up $1.93 billion of unpaid work based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate of $22.55 an hour for volunteer time, the study concluded.
Visit www.foundation.caionline.org.
© CTW Features
