Analysis of the best experience and recommendations of the OECD: statistics of the housing sector

Governments generally collect, process and ensure access to housing statistics for the following purposes:

•  To ensure that international publications and databases of international organizations, including the OECD, have complete objective and relevant country profiles;
• To ensure that countries’ position and interests are taken into account when developing modern models of statistical monitoring and analysis of the housing sector;
• To contribute to the positioning of countries in international rankings, based on data provided to international organizations, including the OECD;
• To provide the evidence base of state policy in the housing sector.

The tasks aimed at the implementation of these objectives are:

·   to provide country profiles to complete international questionnaires, including the OECD questionnaires, on statistics and politics in the housing sector;

·   to ensure participation in international consultations on the development and revision of statistical standards in the housing sector of international organizations, such as Eurostat, OECD, WHO, etc.;

·   to develop proposals for improving national statistical monitoring in the housing sector;

·   to carry out expert meetings involving the OECD representatives aimed at approbation, expert discussions and popularization of the best management practices in the housing sector.

The analysis of the housing sector conducted by the OECD for states, regions and agglomerations is based on an extensive evidence base that includes:

           ·   housing statistics;

           ·   macroeconomic statistics;

           ·   socio-demographic statistics;

           ·   indicators of "green" growth.

The OECD bases its approach on generally accepted methodological principles of statistics seeking to harmonize country-specific methodology and comparability of international data. Generally accepted principles governing statistics include: relevance, objectivity and accessibility of data, professionalism, use of statistical standards, correct use and interpretation of statistical data; confidentiality; international cooperation in the field of statistics, etc.

The OECD evidence base is built on several sources. Its foundation is national data collected by countries on the basis of registers, or statistical monitoring where registers are not applicable. The foundation of national housing statistics is regular population censuses. Also, a number of countries conduct specialized statistical surveys that allow collecting more reliable, detailed and up-to-date data.

Examples of specialized country studies are: «Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Survey» (HILDA) in Australia; «Encuesta de Caracterización Socioeconómica Nacional» (CASEN) in Chile; «German Socio-Economic Panel» (GSOEP) in Germany; «Korean Housing Survey» (KHS) in South Korea; «Japan Household Panel Study» (JHPS) in Japan; «Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares» (ENIGH) in Mexico; «American Community Survey» (ACS) in the USA.

Within the European Union the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions study is being implemented. National statistics is supplemented by the OECD research data. In the housing sector the main survey is the OECD Questionnaire on Affordable and Social Housing.

The statistics are then aggregated in the respective databases. Housing statistics is aggregated in the OECD Affordable Housing Database, which is also a source for related statistical databases, includingOECD Regional Database, OECD Metropolitan Database, How's life in your region?, and etc.

Also, these statistical databases are generally completed by relevant online-services that allow you to visualize the data contained in them. At the moment the following online services are available:

         ·   Compare your country: Affordable Housing for the OECD Affordable Housing Database;

         ·   Online-portals  Better Life Index  and How’s Life in Your Region;

         ·   OECD Regional Explorer for the OECD Regional Database;

         ·   OECD Metro Explorer  for the OECD Metropolitan Database.