Homeownership Drops to the lowest rate seen in over a decade

Posted on Aug 03, 2011

Homeownership is experiencing the lowest rates seen in 13 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Reports. The homeownership rate reached a record high of 69.2% during the second and fourth quarters of 2004, a sight not seen in 7 years. In June of this year they dropped to a low of 65.9%, in an annual comparison.

Wayne Yamano, director of research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, Calif., told Bloomberg News, “Tight underwriting standards and the lack of a downpayment are keeping a big chunk of buyers out of the market and other people are being displaced by foreclosures.”

Many analysts believe that the homeownership rate may continue to fall well into 2015 and that the younger generation will be the ones that drive the housing market into the next decade.