Homeownership Rate Climbs From Lowest Level Since 1995
By Prashant Gopal - Nov 5, 2013
The U.S. homeownership rate climbed from the lowest level in 18 years, signaling that the real estate rebound is drawing in more buyers.
The share of Americans who own their homes was 65.3 percent in the third quarter, up from 65 percent in the previous three months, the Census Bureau reported today. The prior level was the lowest since the third quarter of 1995.
Rising real estate values are removing negative equity, helping homeowners avoid foreclosure, while also luring would-be purchasers into the market before prices and mortgage rates go higher. The pool of eligible buyers is expanding as U.S. employment improves and families who lost properties during the recession repair their credit and seek another chance at owning.
Americans whose properties were repossessed were once homeowners by choice and now they are renters by chance, Richard Smith, chief executive officer of Realogy Holdings Corp. (RLGY), owner of brokerage brands Coldwell Banker and Century 21, said in a telephone interview yesterday. They will repair their credit and be back in the market as homebuyers. We dont grow up in the country aspiring to be renters. We aspire to be owners.
Home prices jumped 12 percent in September from a year earlier, the 19th straight annual increase, Irvine, California-based CoreLogic Inc. said today.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-05/homeownership-rate-climbs-from-lowest-level-since-1995.html