Homeownership Rates by Age

We saw last month that during the final quarter of 2019 the homeownership rate increased to 65.1%, the highest level in 7 years. A recent “chart of the week” from the Mortgage Bankers Association took a deeper dive into the numbers to breakout the homeownership rate by age. They find that older homeowners are staying put longer than previous generations. Indeed….

“Households headed by a person 65 years old or greater (green line) had the highest proportion of homeowners in last year’s fourth quarter (by age group) at 79%. If we drill down within the 65+ age group, the homeownership rate initially increases and peaks for households headed by someone 70-74 years old (80.5% in 2019 Q4) and falls thereafter (to 78.2% for the 75+ group in 2019 Q4)…”