Daily Real Estate News | December 29, 2009
Federal Reserve Bank of New York economists predict a decline in the U.S. homeownership rate as Americans spend the next several years trying to rebuild their equity. The worst recession since the Great Depression, punctuated by a foreclosure epidemic, drove house values down by an estimated $5.9 trillion since they crested in March 2006, according to Zillow.com. The New York Fed researchers expect home owners who are upside down on their mortgages because of this lost equity "very likely will convert officially to renters" in the absence of a price turnaround in the foreseeable future. The share of Americans owning their houses topped out at 69 percent in 2006 but has since retreated back to 67.3 percent, a level not seen since 2000, based on the New York Fed analysis.
Source: Washington Post (12/25/09)