Homeownership in the U.S. dropped for a fourth consecutive quarter, the longest string of declines since at least 1981, a sign that the key means of building assets for millions of Americans is weakening.
The homeownership rate, the percentage of households that own their residences, fell to 68.1 percent in the July-September period from 68.3 percent in the prior three months, according to a report today from the Census Bureau in Washington. The rate has been declining from a peak in 2004, which culminated a decade of gains fueled by easier lending standards and rising ownership for immigrants and younger households.
And now for the worst part of the report:
The Census Bureau report also found that a record 17.9 million U.S. homes stood empty in the third quarter as lenders took possession of a growing number of properties in foreclosure.
The figure is a 7.8 percent gain from a year ago, when 16.6 million properties were vacant, the Census Bureau said. About 2.07 million empty homes were for sale, compared with 1.94 million a year earlier, the report said.
There is no way to spin that number as anything but horrible. A 7.8% increase in the number of vacant homes is an indication there are serious problems in the housing market. And with credit conditions getting tighter there is really only one direction to go from here -- down.
2 comments:
How much further down can we go? It's scary to realize that we haven't hit the bottom yet.
Makes me wish I'd been more careful with my money and have some funds in the bank.
What PERCENTAGE of homes not for rent are vacant? How does this compare to the historical trends?
This is more important than the raw number ... as the total numbers of homes, households, population, etc., in the U.S. are increasing exponentially over time.
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