The homeownership rate in the United States rose slightly in 2022, reaching the highest figure since 2011. However, in the third quarter of 2024, the proportion of households occupied by owners declined to 65.6 percent. The U.S. homeownership rate was the highest in 2004 before the 2007-2009 recession hit and decimated the housing market. Homeownership since the recession The rate of homeownership in the U.S. fell in the lead up to the recession and continued to do so until 2016. In spite of this trend, the share of Americans who perceived homeownership as part of their personal American dream remained relatively stable. This suggests that the financial hardship caused by the recession led to the fall in homeownership, rather than a change in opinion about the importance of homeownership itself. What the future holds for homeownership Homeownership trends vary from generation to generation. Homeownership among Americans over 65 years old is declining, whereas most Millennial renters plan to buy a home in the near future. This suggests that homeownership will remain important in the future, as Millennials are forecast to head most households over the next two decades.

In 2023, the rate of homeownership among White people living in the United States was 74.3 percent. Comparatively, 45.7 percent of Black people owned a home in the same year.

Graph and download economic data for Homeownership Rate for the United States (USHOWN) from 1984 to 2024 about homeownership, housing, rate, and USA.

The homeownership rate was the highest among Americans in their early 70s and the lowest among people in their early 20s in 2023. In that year, approximately 81 percent of individuals aged 70 to 75 resided in a residence they owned, compared to approximately 23.6 percent among individuals under the age of 25. On average, 65.9 percent of Americans lived in an owner-occupied home. The homeownership rate was the highest in 2004 but has since declined.

Graph and download economic data for Homeownership Rates by Race and Ethnicity: Non-Hispanic White Alone in the United States (NHWAHORUSQ156N) from Q1 1994 to Q4 2024 about homeownership, white, non-hispanic, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Unit Characteristics: Percent Homeowner with Mortgage by Age: from Age 35 to 44 (CXU980230LB0404M) from 1984 to 2023 about consumer unit, age, homeownership, mortgage, percent, and USA.

The homeownership among White people in the United States was 74 percent, the highest out of all ethnicities, in 2022. American Dream Part of the “American Dream” is the idea of owning a home. It is seen as a status symbol and an indicator of wealth. People take a lot of pride in owning a home, and hope to do so at the earliest age possible. It is the idea of having a white picket fence with a nuclear family, a dog, and a car or two which is seen as the stereotypical “end goal”. However, in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, the rate of homeownership in the United States fell steadily until 2016. The recession hindered people’s chances of owning a home, due to less credit being available and their own fears about being stuck with a home in negative equity if another recession were to occur. As a result, the homeownership rate in the United States has barely increased in the past few years. Factors affecting homeownership Homeownership varies based on different factors. Married-couple families have the highest homeownership rates among different family statuses. Unsurprisingly, households with high incomes have the highest homeownership rates.

The homeownership rate in the United States amounted to nearly 66 percent in the third quarter of 2024. While there are many factors that affect people’s decision to buy a house, the recent decrease can be attributed to the higher mortgage interest rates, which make taking out a mortgage less affordable for potential buyers, especially considering the surge in house prices in recent years. Which factors affect homeownership? Age and ethnicity have a strong correlation with homeownership. Baby boomers, for example, are twice as likely to own their home than Millennials. Also, the homeownership rate among white Americans is substantially higher than among any other ethnicity. How does the U.S. homeownership rate compare with other countries? Having a home is an integral part of the “American Dream”. Compared with selected European countries, the U.S. ranks alongside the United Kingdom, Cyprus, and Ireland. Many countries in Europe, however, exceed 80 percent homeownership rate.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Unit Characteristics: Percent Homeowner with Mortgage by Income Before Taxes: $70,000 to $99,999 (CXU980230LB0220M) from 2015 to 2023 about consumer unit, homeownership, mortgage, tax, percent, income, and USA.

The Midwest was the U.S. region with the highest homeownership rate in the United States in 2023. Approximately 70 percent of all homes were owned by their occupants in that year, which was about four percent higher than the national average. At the other end of the scale was the West region, where less than 62 percent of people owned their home. Overall, the homeownership rate in the U.S. has declined since 2003.

Graph and download economic data for Homeownership Rates by Race and Ethnicity: All Other Races: Total in the United States (AORHORUSQ156N) from Q1 1994 to Q4 2024 about homeownership, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Unit Characteristics: Percent Homeowner with Mortgage by Housing Tenure: Home Owner (CXU980230LB1702M) from 1984 to 2023 about consumer unit, homeownership, mortgage, percent, housing, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Unit Characteristics: Percent Homeowner without Mortgage by Age: from Age 45 to 54 (CXU980240LB0405M) from 1984 to 2023 about consumer unit, age, homeownership, mortgage, percent, and USA.

Following a period of stagnation over most of the 2010s, the number of owner occupied housing units in the United States started to grow in 2017. In 2023, there were over 86 million owner-occupied homes. Owner-occupied housing is where the person who owns a property – either outright or through a mortgage – also resides in the property. Excluded are therefore rental properties, employer-provided housing and social housing. Homeownership sentiment in the U.S. Though homeownership is still a cornerstone of the American dream, an increasing share of people see themselves as lifelong renters. Millennials have been notoriously late to enter the housing market, with one in four reporting that they would probably continue to always rent in the future, a 2022 survey found. In 2017, just five years before that, this share stood at about 13 percent. How many renter households are there? Renter households are roughly half as few as owner-occupied households in the U.S. In 2023, the number of renter occupied housing units amounted to almost 45 million. Climbing on the property ladder for renters is not always easy, as it requires prospective homebuyers to save up for a down payment and qualify for a mortgage. In many metros, the median household income is insufficient to qualify for the median-priced home.

Just a small share of renters in the United States were homeowner ready in 2022. In El Paso, TX, the percentage of renters who could afford to buy a home with a seven percent mortgage was the highest at about 39 percent. Homeownership in Urban Honolulu, HI, San Diego, CA, and Los Angeles, CA, was most out of reach, with less than five percent who could afford to buy a home.

The U.S. homeownership rate for householders over 65 years of age fluctuated between 78.8 percent and 80.9 percent since 2011. In the third quarter of 2024, approximately 79 percent of people over 65 years of age inhabited an owner-occupied home. This was much higher than the average homeownership rate in the United States.

This statistic shows the homeownership rate in the United States between 2001 to 2009 and 2010 to 2017, by income. Between the second period, the homeownership rate of respondents who earn more than 150,000 U.S. dollars was 84 percent, which was a seven percent decrease from the first period.

The number of U.S. home sales in the United States declined in 2023, after soaring in 2021. A total of four million transactions of existing homes, including single-family, condo, and co-ops, were completed in 2023, down from 6.12 million in 2021. According to the forecast, the housing market is forecast to head for recovery in 2025, despite transaction volumes are expected to remain below the long-term average. Why have home sales declined? The housing boom during the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that being a homeowner is still an integral part of the American dream. Nevertheless, sentiment declined in the second half of 2022 and Americans across all generations agreed that the time was not right to buy a home. A combination of factors has led to house prices rocketing and making homeownership unaffordable for the average buyer. A survey among owners and renters found that the high home prices and unfavorable economic conditions were the two main barriers to making a home purchase. People who would like to purchase their own home need to save up a deposit, have a good credit score, and a steady and sufficient income to be approved for a mortgage. In 2022, mortgage rates experienced the most aggressive increase in history, making the total cost of homeownership substantially higher. Only 15 percent of U.S. renters could afford to become homeowners and in metros with highly competitive housing markets such as Los Angeles, CA, and Urban Honolulu, HI, this share was below five percent. Are U.S. home prices expected to fall? The median sales price of existing homes stood at 387,000 U.S. dollars in 2023 and was forecast to increase slightly until 2025. The development of the S&P/Case Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index shows that home prices experienced seven consecutive months of decline between June 2022 and January 2023, but this trend reversed in the following months. Despite mild fluctuations throughout the year, home prices in many metros are forecast to continue to grow, albeit at a much slower rate.

House prices grew year-on-year in most states in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2024. The District of Columbia was the only exception, with a decline of three percent. The annual appreciation for single-family housing in the U.S. was 0.71 percent, while in Hawaii—the state where homes appreciated the most—the increase exceeded 10 percent. How have home prices developed in recent years? House price growth in the U.S. has been going strong for years. In 2024, the median sales price of a single-family home exceeded 413,000 U.S. dollars, up from 277,000 U.S. dollars five years ago. One of the factors driving house prices was the cost of credit. The record-low federal funds effective rate allowed mortgage lenders to set mortgage interest rates as low as 2.3 percent. With interest rates on the rise, home buying has also slowed, causing fluctuations in house prices. Why are house prices growing? Many markets in the U.S. are overheated because supply has not been able to keep up with demand. How many homes enter the housing market depends on the construction output, whereas the availability of existing homes for purchase depends on many other factors, such as the willingness of owners to sell. Furthermore, growing investor appetite in the housing sector means that prospective homebuyers have some extra competition to worry about. In certain metros, for example, the share of homes bought by investors exceeded 20 percent in 2024.

The average price per square foot of floor space in new single-family housing in the United States decreased after the great financial crisis, followed by several years of stagnation. Since 2012, the price has continuously risen, hitting 168 U.S. dollars per square foot in 2022. In 2024, the average sales price of a new home exceeded 500,000 U.S. dollars. Development of house sales in the U.S. One of the reasons for rising property prices is the gradual growth of house sales between 2011 and 2020. This period was marked by the gradual recovery following the subprime mortgage crisis and a growing housing sentiment. Another significant factor for the housing demand was the growing number of new household formations each year. Despite this trend, housing transactions plummeted in 2021, amid soaring prices and borrowing costs. In 2021, the average construction cost for single-family housing rose by nearly 12 percent year-on-year, and in 2022, the increase was even higher, at close to 17 percent. Financing a house purchase Mortgage interest rates in the U.S. rose dramatically in 2022 and remained elevated until 2024. In 2020, a homebuyer could lock in a 30-year fixed interest rate of under three percent, whereas in 2024, the average rate for the same mortgage type was more than twice higher. That has led to a decline in homebuyer sentiment, and an increasing share of the population pessimistic about buying a home in the current market.