Homeownership Up Among Younger Millennials

While homeownership in the 35 and older age brackets have been declining, the ownership rate among the under 35 age bracket increased during the second quarter, per U.S. Census Bureau figures. Still the overall homeownership rate in the U.S. was 64.1%, down slightly from 64.2% in the first quarter and from 64.3% for the comparable 2018 quarter.

If the declines in the homeownership rate in the first quarter were a harbinger of a housing market slowdown, the very modest decrease in the second quarter of 2019 is a signal that the slowdown is not the end of the world, writes Skylar Olsen, Zillow’s director of economic research. It’s a momentary breather, an acknowledgement that the home value appreciation of 2017 and 2018 was not sustainable and that 2019 could net out as a much more sane year.

While the market is on the right track toward becoming healthy and sustainable, “more sane” doesn’t mean fully recovered, it’s been several years since home values started growing again from those low, low levels during the housing bust, and a few since the homeownership rate started rising again. It’s tempting to think we’re back. We’re not.

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