US Homeownership Rate Hits 15-Year Low

Despite the incentives to buy now — namely that average rates on a 30-year mortgages are now 3.7% — sales of single-family existing homes slipped 1.5% in May from a month earlier, according to data released today by the National Association of Realtors. Experts say the drop, which came during the historically busy spring season, suggests the housing market has a way to go to recover. If anything, the ranks of American homeowners are dwindling. The homeownership rate in the U.S. fell slightly from 66% to 65% during the first quarter of 2012 — the lowest in 15 years, according to the latest data by the U.S. Census. (It peaked at just over 69% in 2004.)

 Renters, meanwhile, have more inventory to choose from as owners who are unable to sell their homes often have no choice but to find tenants, says Dan McCue, research manager at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. The number of single-family homes for rent or being rented grew by two million units from 2006 to 2010, according to a JCHS report released this month, and McCue says the number has likely grown since then. “One third of all rentals are single-family homes,” he says. Read More >>