Homeownership Rates Drop to 1997 Levels

July 29, 2011 (Shirley Allen)

Homeownership rates in the United States dropped to 65.9 percent in the second quarter of 2011, falling to levels last seen in 1997 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The homeownership rate in the second quarter of 2011 was 1.0 percentage point lower than the second quarter of 2010 and 0.5 percentage points lower than the first quarter of 2011.

Regionally, homeownership in the second quarter of 2011 was highest in the Midwest at 70.0 percent followed by the South which posted a 68.2 percent homeownership rate. Homeownership rates in the Northeast were 63.0 percent and the West was the lowest at 60.3 percent.

Compared to the first quarter of 2011, the region with the largest drop in homeowners was the Northeast where homeownership rates dropped from 63.9 percent to 63.0 percent. The region with that posted the smallest decline in homeownership was the South, which dropped from 68.4 percent in the first quarter to 68.2 in the second quarter.

The Northeast also had the largest year-over-year drop as homeownership rates which fell 1.2 percentage points. The West dropped 1.1 percentage points in a year followed by the South with a 0.9 percentage drop and the Midwest with a 0.8 percentage drop.

Homeownership in all age groups also continued to decline with homeownership rates for those under 35 at 37.5 percent, from 35 to 44 at 63.8 percent, from 45 to 54 at 72.3 percent, from 55 to 64 at 77.8 percent and 65 years of age and over at 80.8 percent.

The age group that has suffered the largest loss in homeownership rates since the housing bust has been the 35 to 44 year old age group. Since the first quarter of 2007, homeownership rates have dropped from 70.1 percent to 63.8 percent.

In the racial categories, the Non-Hispanic White alone homeownership rate was 73.7 percent, the Black Alone homeownership rate was 44.2 percent, the Hispanic rate was 46.6 percent and all Other Races was 56.0. Homeownership rates were down for all racial categories from the first quarter of 2011 and year-over-year. Since the beginning of 2007, homeownership rates for Blacks and Hispanics has fallen almost twice as fast as Non-Hispanic White’s.

Tags: Census Bureau, homeownership rates

Source:
U.S. Census Bureau