Percentage of Homeowners Continues to Fall

Washington, DC, Oct. 7, 2011 — The percentage of Americans who owned their homes has fallen the most since the Great Depression, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The home ownership rate fell to 65.1% in April 2010, 1.1 percentage points lower than it was in 2000. The decline was the biggest drop since the 1930s, when home ownership fell 4.2%.

Home ownership peaked during the 2000 to nearly 70% at one point around 2004.

The fall from that peak was more than 4 percentage points in just about five years.