For the second quarter of 2017, homeownership saw an increase year-to-year, rising from 62.9 percent to 63.7 percent.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Residential Vacancies and Homeownership report for the second quarter of 2017, homeownership also rose .1 percent quarter-to-quarter, increasing from 63.6 percent to 63.7 percent. Homeownership was the highest in Midwest, at 68 percent, followed by the South at 65.5 percent, the Northwest at 60.4 percent and the West at 58.9 percent. The Northeast saw an increase in homeownership in both quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year.
What generation is leading homeownership? Not surprisingly, those 65 and older for this past quarter, with 78.2 percent being homeowners, compared to only 35.3 percent of those under 35, though the millennials did increase 1.2 percent year-to-year. As residents age, so does their likelihood of homeownership, 58.8 percent of those aged 35 to 44 own a home, while 69.3 percent of those aged 45 to 54 are homeowners, and 75.4 of those 55 to 64 years old own their home.
Across demographics, non-Hispanic whites had the highest rate of homeownership at 72.2 percent, followed by Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander household owners at 56.5 percent, and black homeownership hit 42.3 percent.
Around 87.1 percent of homes in the U.S. were occupied, leaving 12.9 percent empty.
Meanwhile, the number of rental vacancies rose from 6.7 percent to 7.3 percent year-to-year, yet the median rent continued to increase. The median asking rent for vacancies was $910, a new peak. Rental vacancies in the Northeast was the lowest in the country, at just 5.2 percent, compared to 9 percent in the South, the highest.
More and more Americans are feeling positive about the housing market, according to Fannie Mae. This latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that they are starting to do something about it.