Dive Brief:

• The recovery of the U.S. economy from the recession and the subsequent failure of jobs to bounce back is a significant part of the reason that the rate of home ownership among U.S. households – 64.8% in the first quarter of this year – is the lowest it has been since 1995.
• The financial burdens and barriers for young people who have jobs – student debt that has mushroomed and difficult credit standards for mortgage borrowing – are part of the problem, too.
• Some economists argue that the traditional measure of home ownership is deceptive at this point in the recovery because employment for 25- to 34-year-olds is near a five-year high and they are moving out of their parents homes and into apartments, though that means they pull down the ownership rate.

Dive Summary:

An optimistic view is that people moving into rentals now are taking the traditional first steps to home ownership – household formation. A less sanguine view is that this round of new renters may be in their apartments, by choice or economic necessity, longer than used to be the case.