From the 1960s through the 1990s, the homeownership rate was relatively unchanged, staying between 64 and 65 percent. During the last decade, when looser credit conditions and a less risk-adverse attitude toward investing in a house prevailed, that percentage jumped, reaching an all-time high of 69.2 percent in 2004. A study titled Homeownership Boom and Bust 2000 to 2009: Where Will The Homeownership Rate Go From Here conducted by professors from UCLA and Syracuse University found that the rising rates of the last decade were unsustainable and driven, in part, by increased levels of homeowners under the age of 30. Stuart Gabriel, of UCLA’s Anderson School, said the question of why homeownership rates are now falling is more a question of why they were so high over the last decade. Evidence suggest relaxation of credit standards and households headed by people in their 20s and 30s drove the gain and a return to a more conservative approach following the crash is responsible for rates returning to historical norms. More here.
