It Was Commonly Believed Almost Two-Thirds Of Americans Owned a Home. The Actual Figure Is Much Lower
A new study showed that 53% of Americans own a home, a figure that is much lower than the 65% commonly stated.
CBS News noted that the traditionally cited rate comes from the U.S. Census Bureau and measures the share of occupied homes in which the owner lives.
The new one, in contrast, calculates the share of adults who own a home. The Federal Reserve of Minneapolis noted that about 14% of U.S. adults live in homes occupied by the owner but don’t own the property.
The figure can include adult children living with their parents, or adult family members living with others, as well as someone living with a roommate who owns the home.
Erik Hembre, senior economist at the Minneapolis Fed and a co-author of the report, told the outlet that “we should be in agreement about what it is we’re talking about, and when you hear that the homeownership rate is about two-thirds of Americans, you take that to mean two-thirds of adults are homeowners, which is factually not true.”
Another analysis also showed that as home prices have continued to rise, so too have foreclosure filings.
ABC News reported that foreclosure filings rose by 71 percent between 2020 and 2025. “If there are economic stresses on a household, people have to make decisions,” Jacob Inwald, director of litigation for economic justice at Legal Services NYC told the outlet. “What bill am I going to pay now? What bill am I going to put off?”
The outlet looked at foreclosures by zip code when compiling the data. They found that Florida had the highest number of annual foreclosure filings. Other states with high numbers of foreclosures included New Jersey, Delaware, Nevada, South Carolina, Illinois, California, Maryland, Ohio and Arizona.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), home prices reached an all-time median high of $440,600 in June, a 1.8 percent increase. However, the increase in cost came even as home sales declined.
The NAR reported that pending home sales in June fell by 5.4 percent. The association also noted rising mortgage rates and high home prices appear to be driving people out of the market.
“The highest mortgage rates in nearly a year and the record-high national median home price together are contributing to a tepid housing market that is especially difficult for first-time homebuyers,” said NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun.
“It is worth emphasizing that it is closing activity, not contract signings, that generates economic impact. Pending contracts are only suggestive of upcoming closed deals and do not align perfectly, due to fallout rates and contract contingencies,” he said.
