Younger Householders Drove Rebound in U.S. Homeownership

The U.S. homeownership rate in 2022 was even higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic — 65.8% compared to 64.6% in 2019 — a rebound driven largely by those age 44 and younger, according to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey/Housing Vacancy Survey (CPS/HVS).

Homeownership continued to climb from the downturn following the foreclosure crisis (2004) and Great Recession (2008), when rates dipped as low as 63.4% in 2016. Homeownership rates recovered approximately half of the 5.6% decrease from 2004 to 2016.

The recovery began before the pandemic hit the United States in March 2020: rates rose 1.2 points from 2016 to 2019, and by another 1.2 points from 2019 to 2022. Younger households typically are more likely to rent than own homes. Yet from 2016 to 2022, homeownership among adults under age 55 went up but remained stable among older populations. The pandemic disrupted CPS/HVS data collection operations in 2020 and part of 2021. As a result, it is difficult to know whether the homeownership rate grew during each year of the pandemic. To account for the disruption, this article focuses on homeownership rate changes from the low in 2016; the 2019 pre-pandemic rate; and the rate in 2022 (when data collection returned to normal).

Younger households typically are more likely to rent than own homes. Yet from 2016 to 2022, homeownership among adults under age 55 went up but remained stable among older populations.

From 2016 to 2019, homeownership increased among householders under age 35 (up 2.2 percentage points), ages 35 to 44 (up 1.5 points), and 45 to 54 (up 0.8 points). The increases for the 35 to 44 age group were not statistically different from the youngest and the oldest age groups.

Rates among older householders were not statistically different during the same period.

The pattern was similar from 2019 to 2022 when homeownership rates also rose about 2% among householders under age 35 and between ages 35 and 44, with one exception: the rate also inched up (0.5 percentage points) among those age 65 and over. There was no statistically significant change among householders in other age groups.

Homeownership rates rose in the Northeast, South and West from 2016 to 2019, and in all regions from 2019 to 2022.

Low mortgage rates likely helped drive the rise, even after rates began to go up in 2022.

By 2022, the homeownership rate in the Midwest hit 70%, the highest of all regions. The South had the second-highest homeownership rate (67.3%), followed by two regions that were not statistically different: the Northeast (62.5%) and West (61.4%).

Homeownership rates rose from 2016 to 2019 among non-Hispanic White householders, Asian, and Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander householders. There was no increase among Black or American Indian/Alaskan Native householders.

But from 2019 to 2022, homeownership rates increased among householders of all races and ethnicities except for American Indian or Alaskan Native householders.

The share of non-Hispanic White householders who owned a home grew from 71.9% in 2016 to 74.4% in 2022. There was about a 3-point increase for Black alone householders (45%) and about a 6-point increase for American Indian or Alaska Native householders (53.4%) and Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander householders (61.0%).

There was no significant difference in the increases for non-Hispanic white householders compared to Black alone, American Indian or Alaska Native, or Hispanic householders.

The difference was also not significant for Black householders compared to American Indian or Alaska Native or Hispanic householders, or for American Indian or Alaska Native versus Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander or Hispanic householders.