Housing economist Tom Lawler has posted some fascinating data about homeownership in this post at Calculated Risk.
As Americans have started families later, as they have had more fluid career paths, as they have moved around more before settling, it makes sense that we’d see a longterm trend of declining homeownership among younger adults (under 35).
But one would have hoped to see greater homeownership in the prime earning years beyond that — it’s the American Dream.
Here’s the data as indicated in the 2010 census:
Will those numbers recover as the housing market eventually recovers to historical norms? Or have we entered an extended period of fewer home purchases, fewer qualified buyers, and fewer expectations of homeownership as a guarantor of wealth and happiness?
There is much more data in the post, including percentages by state of the number of homes owned free and clear of a mortgage. I’ll comment on what those numbers say about Georgia in a future post.