Homeownership Rates in the United States Remain Steady

According to the US Census Bureau's recent Quarterly Housing Vacancies and Homeownership report, rates of homeownership look to be holding steady. The homeownership rate clung to 63.6 percent in the first quarter of 2017, virtually unchanged from 63.7 percent the quarter prior and 63.5 percent the year prior.

Additional findings from the study include:

• The Midwest held the highest homeownership rate in the first quarter, at 67.6 percent, while the West held the lowest at 59 percent.
• Homeownership rates in the first quarter were also highest among homeowners aged 65 and older, at 78.6 percent, and lowest for homeowners aged 35 and younger at 34.3 percent.
• The rate of homeownership among Hispanic Americans markedly rose for the second straight year in 2016 - a trend against the current par for the course and currently stands at 46.6 percent.
• The renter vacancy rate came in at 7 percent. Breaking this down more specifically, the renter vacancy rate was highest outside "Metropolitan Statistical Areas" or "MSAs" at 8.7 percent, followed by inside principal cities at 7 percent and in the suburbs at 6.5 percent.
• The median asking sales price for vacant for sale housing in the first quarter was $176,900. The median rent for vacant for rent housing, over the same period, was $864.