Researchers from the University of Michigan will help New York City conduct its next major housing survey, city officials announced Friday.
The survey is how the city keeps track of its housing stock. It details how many housing complexes are within city limits, what year they were built, how many units are in each one, and more. New York City conducted its first survey in 1965.
The city had partnered with the U.S. Census Bureau on previous surveys since the 1960s, a spokesperson from the city's Housing Preservation and Development department told Homes.com.
"The contract that we had with the Census expired, and the opportunity to work with the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR) emerged," Matt Rauschenbach, the spokesperson, told Homes.com. "ISR really is one of the premier data collection and analytics teams in the world."
The bureau did not return a request to comment.
City lawmakers use data from the New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey to craft policy and inform government programs. Housing advocates, journalists and social science researchers also cite the findings.
"As the start of the 2026 NYCHVS approaches, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment in our work to build and preserve affordable housing across the five boroughs," Ahmed Tigani, the department's acting commissioner, said in a statement. "This is an essential tool in helping us provide safe, affordable housing for all New Yorkers."
NYC works to build housing to meet demand
New York is indeed at a weighty juncture in its history — in part because more people are moving to the area, and there isn't enough affordable housing for everyone who wants to call the Big Apple home.
To help fix the housing issue, Mayor Eric Adams has ordered officials to look for space for new housing developments — particularly on land the city already owns. The city also approved a series of zoning law changes under its City of Yes plan that are slated to add 80,000 housing units in the next 15 years.
New York's current survey covers housing data from 2021 to 2023. A special team within the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research will handle data collection for the upcoming survey, city officials said. The university will also digitally house the data generated from 1978 to 2023.
The University of Michigan is excited about partnering with New York on the survey, Pamela Davis-Kean, director of the school's survey research center, said in a statement.
The survey — conducted roughly every three years — also captures population changes within neighborhoods, demographic shifts, as well as living conditions in rent-stabilized and rent-controlled units. City officials conduct the survey to comply with the Local Emergency Housing Rent Control Act of 1962.