Rapid Reaction: Q4 2017 Homeownership Rate
After bouncing around near 50-year lows for the past few years, the national homeownership rate finally seems to be gaining sustainable, meaningful upward momentum.

After bouncing around near 50-year lows for the past few years, the national homeownership rate finally seems to be gaining sustainable, meaningful upward momentum.
After bouncing around near 50-year lows for the past few years, the national homeownership rate finally seems to be gaining sustainable, meaningful upward momentum. The fourth quarter of 2017 was unseasonably strong, driven by buyers determined to make a deal in a highly competitive market. And for would-be buyers struggling to save for a down payment or figuring out how to make the monthly mortgage math pencil out, changes in the tax code that potentially put more money in their pockets could be the push they need to move out of an apartment and into a first home. The rapid growth in rents and renter households that characterized the early years of the housing recovery has subsided and stabilized to a large degree as the flood of new rental units begun a few years ago begin to open for occupancy. With rental supply now at least somewhat more balanced to renter demand, developers are likely to shift their focus back to the broader for-sale market, which is starving for new supply. Assuming newly built homes are located in relatively accessible areas and are priced at a reasonable level, builders should have little trouble finding buyers for them. All of these factors point to continued growth in homeownership in coming quarters, however slow.