Homeownership Drops To Lowest Level In Over 20 Years As Rental Costs Climb
More Americans are renting their homes than at any time in more than two decades, as homeownership continues to plunge to record levels.
Those are the findings from new research out of Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Study. Continuing a decadelong decline, homeownership rates stood at just under 64 percent at the start of 2015 -- about the same level that prevailed in the early 1990s.
The unrelenting drop in homeownership “erases nearly all of the increase from the previous two decades,” said Chris Herbert, managing director of the housing center, in a statement. “The trend does not appear to be abating.”
As a result of muted homeownership, millions of adults are streaming into rental markets, sending vacancy rates to a 20-year low and driving up rents. Nationwide, rental costs increased 3.2 percent in 2014, double the rate of inflation.All across the income spectrum, rent has grown into a significant burden: Overall, roughly half of American renters pay more than 30 percent of their income to landlords.
http://www.ibtimes.com/homeownership-drops-lowest-level-over-20-years-rental-costs-climb-1981543