Homeownership in the United States: 2005 to 2019

The U.S. Census Bureau released a new report that examines trends in homeownership over the last 15 years. The report, Homeownership in the United States: 2005 to 2019, is based on statistics from the American Community Survey (ACS). The report presents trends in homeownership at the national, state and county levels. For the first time ever, these estimates are available for three consecutive, nonoverlapping periods (2005-2009, 2010-2014 and 2015-2019), providing trend data for small population groups and geographies covering a combined 15-year period. This report uses ACS 5-year estimates during these three periods to analyze county-level homeownership rate data. The report also uses annual ACS 1-year homeownership rate data at the national and state levels to look at year-to-year change from 2005 to 2019.

[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]

Highlights:

•     Based on 1-year ACS estimates, from 2005 to 2019, the national homeownership rate was highest from 2005 to 2009, when the rate was 66% to 67%. Following the housing crash and the Great Recession, the homeownership rate reached a low of 63% in 2015.
•     The homeownership rate in 2019 was 64.1%, up from the 63% in 2015 but below the peak years from 2005-2009.
•     From 2009 to 2014, 46 states and the District of Columbia experienced statistically significant decreases in homeownership. Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Rhode Island and Florida were among the states with the largest decreases in homeownership during this time.
•     Between 2014 and 2019, many states experienced a rebound in homeownership. Thirty-one states showed statistically significant increases in their homeownership rates.