Tag Archives: Homeownership Rate

The rate has ticked up for two consecutive quarters after hitting a 48-year low last year. But is it going to get any better?

Ask the Economist is an ongoing series in which DS News talks with an economist about the most pressing issues facing the nation's housing industry and the economy. This installment features Mark Fleming, Chief Economist with First American Financial Corporation.

Some housing experts expected the homeownership rate, which has been decreasing since 2004, to get a much-needed boost as millennials entered the housing market. However, there have been no results on this end and the homeownership rate has continued to fall.

Ask the Economist is an ongoing series in which DS News talks with an economist about the most pressing issues facing the nation's housing industry and the economy. This installment features Sean Becketti, Chief Economist with Freddie Mac.

The homeownership rates declined by at least 0.6 percentage points year-over-year in all age categories (under 35; 35 to 44; 45 to 54; 55 to 64; and 65 and older), with the largest decline coming in the 35 to 44 age group (2.3 percentage points, from 60.7 down to 58.4 percent.

A recent study from Freddie Mac turned up some discouraging results to throw some cold water on economists' high hopes: The job fields that are expected to grow most in the coming years happen to have some of the lowest homeownership rates.

The rental vacancy rate, meanwhile, fell 0.4 percentage points to 7.0 percent on a combination of tighter supply conditions and a rise in demand as homeownership looks like a distant dream for some Americans. In a survey last month, Freddie Mac found 61 percent of adults living in rental housing don't plan to purchase a home within the next three years as housing costs and credit challenges keep them on the sidelines.

Nearly a third of panelists took a more optimistic view, predicting the market will stabilize one to two years from now, while one in five responded that housing has either already returned to normal or will within the next 12 months.

A major part of that decline comes from stagnating wages, which came to a median $29,000 in doubled-up households in 2012. On average, Zillow says doubled-up adults make about 76 percent of the median income of people living without roommates, making it more difficult for those Americans to save up money for initial housing costs.

With many older Americans feeling confident as their net worth rises with their home values, younger Americans who do not yet own a home find themselves in a very different situation, according to BBVA. "[Y]oung families will need to see faster income growth and save additional money to make a larger down payment," said economist Jason Frederick.