Community associations in the United States were first developed in measurable numbers during the late 1800s. The first type of association to be developed was the planned community, and the most recent is the condominium. The three types of community associations are planned communities, cooperatives, and condominiums. Each type has its own unique history.
Origins 1830-1910 (Planned Communities)
Planned communities developed at the turn of the century in response to urban growth. These communities were characterized by well-designed infrastructures, sensitivity to the site’s natural features, commonly-held open space and covenants that protected owners’ personal and economic values. Toward the end of this period, the first housing cooperatives were introduced in New York City, catering largely to affluent residents.
Emergence 1911-1935 (Cooperatives)
Mortgage interest and real estate taxes were ruled tax-deductible for traditional single-family homes in 1913. Cooperatives were first developed in large numbers in response to housing shortages (especially after both World Wars), as well as to fill the need for low-to-moderate-income housing stock. This helped to down-play the profit motive and also emphasized housing as a social investment. Suburban communities were rigorously planned, but community associations still were not mandatory. “Art juries” consisting of non-resident experts commonly enforced architectural conformity.
Popularity 1936-1960 (Condominiums)
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was created in 1935, making more financing available through mortgage insurance programs. Together with New Deal reforms, the FHA helped revolutionize housing finance and production. FHA encouraged large-scale housing subdivisions through its land-planning, property and subdivision standards and use of conditional commitments.
Some common-law condominiums were created during this period. The deductibility of mortgage interest and real estate taxes was extended to cooperative homeownership in 1942. In suburbia, rising development costs limited the affordability of single-family homes. The Federal Highway Act rapidly increased the pace of suburban residential development after 1956.
Expansion 1961-1973
Homeownership increased from 44 percent in 1940 to more than 64 percent by the mid-1960s. The National Association of Housing Cooperatives (NAHC) was founded in 1960. Condominium development exploded in the late 1960s and early 1970s, fueled by an expanding economy. Condominiums emphasized the profit motive for builder/developers and unit owners, who viewed condominiums as a financial investment.
By 1967, every state had adopted a condominium property act, most based on an FHA model statute. Conversion of apartment buildings into condominiums and cooperatives came under intense public scrutiny; in 1972, a blue-ribbon commission of real estate experts and future CAI
members met in Virginia to develop a new condominium statute that balanced developer needs with consumer protections. This statute led to the development of Uniform Real Property Acts.
In the early 1960s, large-scale, master-planned communities like Reston, VA, Irvine, CA, and Columbia, MD, emerged, and the population of planned communities grew rapidly. In 1963, the FHA began providing mortgage insurance for homes in community associations.
Restructuring 1973-Present
By the early 1970s, cooperative-unit production had fallen off, except in New York City. The 1970s and the 1980s saw a resurgence of planned-community development. By the 1990s, community associations had demonstrated their ability to satisfy a full range of housing needs—starter homes, retirement communities, vacation homes, low- and moderate-income housing and the most expensive housing available.
Today, more than 60 million Americans make their homes in an estimated 309,000 homeowner and condominium associations, cooperatives and other association-governed communities.
Origins of CAI
In 1964, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) published Technical Bulletin No. 50: The Homes Association Handbook, the first systematic study of planned communities. The principal author was Byron Hanke, one of CAI’s eventual founders. The document called for the creation of a national organization to provide education and act as a clearinghouse of ideas and practices for the community association housing market.
In 1965, ULI and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) wrote a model planned-unit development statute.
In 1973, CAI was organized through the joint efforts of the ULI, NAHB, the U.S. League of Savings and Loan Associations, the Veterans Administration, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 23 builder/developers and a number of leading community association professionals.
CAI is now a major national membership organization, with more than 30,000 members and dozens of chapters, including one in South Africa. Members include community association board members and other interested homeowners, professional managers, management companies, builders and developers and businesses that provide products and services to community associations.
CAI believes homeowner and condominium associations can and should exceed the expectations of their residents. It’s that vision that drives CAI’s commitment to be the preeminent worldwide center of knowledge and expertise for people seeking excellence in the governance and management of common-interest communities. CAI inspires excellence by identifying and meeting the evolving needs of the professionals and volunteers who serve associations, by being a trusted forum for the collaborative exchange of knowledge and information, and by helping our members learn, excel and achieve. Our vision is reflected in community associations that become preferred places to call home.