The homeownership rate in the U.S. declined to the lowest in
almost 19 years as rising property prices and mortgage rates held back demand.
The share of Americans who own their homes was 64.8 percent
in the first quarter, down from 65.2 percent in the previous three months, the
Census Bureau said in a report today. The rate is the lowest since the second
quarter of 1995, when it was 64.7 percent.
Recovering home prices and mortgage rates that have climbed
from near-record lows last May have put real estate out of reach for some
would-be buyers. TheS&P/Case-Shiller (SPCS20) index of values in 20 cities
increased 12.9 percent in February from a year earlier after rising 13.2
percent in the 12 months through January, the group said today.
“The homeownership rate is held back by slow job growth,
tight mortgage credit and declining affordability,” Jed Kolko, chief economist
of San Francisco-based property-listing service Trulia Inc., said in an
interview before the report was released. “We’ll see it stay around this level
for some time.”
Sam Zell, chairman of apartment landlord Equity Residential
(EQR), said yesterday that the rate will fall to as low as 55 percent because
more Americans are choosing to rent as they postpone getting married and having
children. As of 2010, about 54 percent of adults were married, down from 57
percent a decade earlier, according to Census Bureau data.
‘Staggering Impact’
“The deferral of marriage has such a staggering impact on
real estate and I just don’t think people focus on it,” Zell, 72, said at the
Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California. “I don’t think
the multifamily market has ever had a better set of future demographics.”
The U.S. homeownership rate for all Americans peaked at 69.2
percent in June 2004, according to the Census Bureau
