• The Q3 2016 homeownership rate ticked up to 63.5 percent from 62.9 percent in Q2 on the back of strong owner household formation, but remains down slightly from Q3 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• The number of U.S. homeowner households grew by 922,000 in Q3 from Q2, the highest quarterly change in owner households since Q3 2001.
• The number of U.S. renter households fell by 606,000 in Q3 from Q2, the largest decline in at least 15 years.

Despite the challenges of low inventory, rising home prices and some difficulties getting financing, Americans are finding ways to transition away from renting and make homeownership happen. The modest uptick in the homeownership rate in Q3 from Q2 was driven by almost 1 million new homeowner households created in the quarter, and a drop in renter households of more than 600,000 over the same time — the largest quarterly gain and drop, respectively, since 2001. Household formation overall was strong, rising 1 percent from a year ago. In September alone, the U.S. added more than 730,000 new households, and has added more than a million since last September. There has been a lot of hand wringing lately about the declining homeownership rate and slowing household formation rate, but this quarter’s data prove that homeownership is stabilizing and buying a home remains an important goal for millions of Americans.