Homeownership Rates Move Higher in 1st Quarter of 2020

The U.S. Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS) is reporting that U.S. homeownership rates reached 65.3% in the first quarter of 2020. That is 1.1% above first quarter of 2019, which was 64.2%, but not statistically different from the 4th quarter of 2019 reading of 65.1%. The strong owner household formation with around 2.7 million new homeowners added in the first quarter has driven up the homeownership rate, especially under the decreasing mortgage interest rates and strong new home and existing home sales in the first two months of the first quarter. This all before the COVID-19 pandemic took aim on the U.S. economy. The homeownership rate among all age groups increased in the first quarter of 2020, led by households under 35, who are mostly first-time homebuyers, with the rate 1.9% higher, year-over-year.