The proportion of U.S. households that own homes has matched its lowest level in 51 years – evidence that rising property prices, high rents and stagnant pay have made it hard for many to buy.
Just 62.9 percent of households owned a home in the April-June quarter this year, a decrease from 63.4 percent 12 months ago, the Census Bureau reported. The share of homeowners now equals the rate in 1965, when the census began tracking the data.
The trend appears most pronounced among millennial households, ages 18 to 34, many of whom are straining under the weight of rising apartment rents and heavy student debt. Their homeownership rate fell .07 percentage points over the past year to 3.1 percent. That decline may reflect, in part, young adults leaving their parents’ homes for rental apartments.
America added nearly a million households over the past year and all of them were renters. Homeownership has declined even as the housing market has been recovering from the 2007 bust. Ownership peaked at 69.4 percent at the end of 2004.
Home prices have been steadily outpacing gains in average earnings. This has made it harder for first time buyers to save for down payments, thereby delaying their ability to purchase a home.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the median home sales price was $247,700 in June, up 4.8 percent from a year ago. That increase is roughly double the pace of average hourly wage gains.
Mortgage rates have helped boost sales of existing homes to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million, the strongest pace since early 2007. But few properties are being listed for sale, giving would-be buyers a limited selection and increasing price pressures.
