Fewer Americans own homes than thought, new Fed search finds
Only about 53% of Americans own homes, or about 12 percentage points lower than previous data has shown, the study found.
Only about 53% of U.S. adults own homes, far below the commonly cited 65% homeownership rate, according to new Federal Reserve research that paints a starker picture of access to homeownership.
The traditional homeownership rate, tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau, measures the share of occupied homes in which the owner lives. The new measure from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis , called the homeowners-to-population ratio, or HPOP, instead calculates the share of adults who own a home.
Take a married couple who own a house and whose adult son still lives with them. The Census measure classifies the household as owner-occupied, even though the son does not own the property.
That approach can create the impression that everyone living in such a household is a homeowner. About 14% of U.S. adults live in owner-occupied homes without owning the property, according to the Minneapolis Fed researchers.
These can include adult children living with their parents, siblings or parents living with adult relatives or people living with a roommate who owns the property.
As a result, the commonly cited rate can obscure the fact that more than one in eight U.S. adults live in an owner-occupied home without owning one. The researchers say HPOP provides a clearer picture by distinguishing between the share of homes occupied by their owners and the share of adults who own property.