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Homeownership down as Americans turn to renting

November 4, 2010 - More Americans may be moving into apartments as opposed to purchasing a home, a scenario that has the nation's homeownership rate down to levels not seen since 1999.

The Census Bureau reported that the national homeownership rate was 66.9 percent in the third quarter, unchanged from the previous quarter but 0.7 percentage points below levels from a year ago at this time, when the rate was 67.6 percent. Additionally, the report added that the national vacancy rate - the percentage of for-sale homes that sat empty on the housing market - stood at 2.5 percent, unchanged from the previous quarter but below 2.6 percent from a year ago.

At the same time, the national rental vacancy rate is dropping. It stood at 10.3 percent in this year's third quarter, down from 10.6 percent the previous quarter and 11.1 percent a year ago. Combined with reported rates for the nation's single-family homes, it could be that many Americans are turning away from the housing market and moving into rental properties instead.

In fact, a report in Forbes says that a sliding homeownership rate is a good thing, since past housing busts initially pushed the rate higher than its usual 64 percent. Fewer people moving into homes means more people renting, said the report, in turn meaning more people are living in housing units that they can afford.
 

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