Home ownership in record plunge

Since 1965, U.S. has seen the biggest one year drop in home ownership. The main reasons are

1. Foreclosure
2. Mortgage

A recently released government report confirmed it. The Census Bureau report clearly showed that homeowners owned 67.8% of occupied homes in the U.S. A year earlier it was 68.9%. This drop in ownership rate is the highest year-over-year drop. The highest home ownership rate was 69.2 % in the last quarter of 2004.

You will find 2.18 million empty homes in the fourth quarter. All these are ready to sell and available in the market. This is a record in itself. See the data about vacant homes

Last year                          2.1 million

Third quarter 2007              2.07 million

Fourth quarter2007             2.18 million

The increase in number of homes available for sale is because of the foreclosure crisis in the U.S. Non-availability of mortgage is another reason for it. Investors and buyers are playing it safe because the prices are going down and there is no sign of any improvement. The research reports and economic experts are not very enthusiastic about the next year.

The foreclosure filings are growing as more and more households are filing for foreclosures. So, more and more houses will be available for selling. The home values are coming down and they will keep coming down for the next few months. As the number of buyers is decreasing, so the inventory with every seller and homebuilders of the homes is increasing. A record inventory of 195,000 homes in December was reported in a recent report.