But fewer families are benefitting from housing wealth gains
The homeownership rate at the end of the second quarter was 63.7%, virtually unchanged from the 63.6% first quarter rate, but an increase of 0.8 percentage points from the 62.9% rate in the prior-year period, according to data from the Census Bureau.
Despite the slight increase, Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, said homeownership still needs to strengthen and broaden for the middle class.
“The addition of 1.2 million households being homeowners is clearly a good news, as more households are participating in housing equity gains. But let’s keep it in perspective: there are fewer homeowners today compared to a decade ago, while renter households have risen by 8 million. So it is still the case that the massive $7 trillion in housing wealth gains from the cyclical low point has been accumulated by a fewer number of families in America,” he said.
For the second quarter, the national vacancy rates were 7.3% for rental housing and 1.5% for homeowner housing. The rental housing rate was an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the year-ago figure of 6.7% and a 0.3 percentage point gain from the 7.0% in the first quarter. The homeowner rate represented a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from both the rates last year and a quarter ago, each at 1.7%.
On a regional basis, the Midwest saw the highest homeownership rate in the second quarter at 68.0%. The South had 65.5% homeownership, while the Northeast saw 60.4% and the West had 58.9%. Compared to the year-ago quarter, rates increased for the Northeast and West while rates were not statistically different for the Midwest and South.
Householders 65 years old and over had the highest homeownership rate during the quarter, at 78.2%. Of the age groups, those under 35 years had the lowest rate of homeownership at only 35.3%.
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Despite the slight increase, Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, said homeownership still needs to strengthen and broaden for the middle class.
“The addition of 1.2 million households being homeowners is clearly a good news, as more households are participating in housing equity gains. But let’s keep it in perspective: there are fewer homeowners today compared to a decade ago, while renter households have risen by 8 million. So it is still the case that the massive $7 trillion in housing wealth gains from the cyclical low point has been accumulated by a fewer number of families in America,” he said.
For the second quarter, the national vacancy rates were 7.3% for rental housing and 1.5% for homeowner housing. The rental housing rate was an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the year-ago figure of 6.7% and a 0.3 percentage point gain from the 7.0% in the first quarter. The homeowner rate represented a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from both the rates last year and a quarter ago, each at 1.7%.
On a regional basis, the Midwest saw the highest homeownership rate in the second quarter at 68.0%. The South had 65.5% homeownership, while the Northeast saw 60.4% and the West had 58.9%. Compared to the year-ago quarter, rates increased for the Northeast and West while rates were not statistically different for the Midwest and South.
Householders 65 years old and over had the highest homeownership rate during the quarter, at 78.2%. Of the age groups, those under 35 years had the lowest rate of homeownership at only 35.3%.
Related stories:
One group has seemed immune from declining homeownership
Homes are good investment but affordability concerns say consumers
