Analyzing demographic data can help shed light on who is most likely to buy homes and what the needs of that group may be. In its analysis of the Census’s American Community Survey (ACS) data, the NAHB found the homeownership rate for single parent and multigenerational households increased by the largest share over the past decade, at 5.7% and 4.9% growth, respectively. Households composed of married couples with no children represent the largest share of homeowners, according to the NAHB.
The homeownership rate for single parent households saw the largest gains in homeownership rate with an increase of 5.7 percentage points over the decade. However, the overall level of homeownership rate for single parent households remains the lowest among all other family household types at just 41%. Another group that saw a large increase was the married couple with children households, with a 4.5% increase over the decade from 73% to 78%.
The only household type to have plateaued was married without children. As a matter of fact, these households saw decreasing homeownership rates for a few years before creeping back up to be at roughly the same rate as they were ten years ago at 84%. Nonetheless, married without children households remain as the group with the highest homeownership rate with an average rate of 84% over the decade.
Given that homeownership rates jumped in recent years for most household types despite increases in home prices suggests that the low mortgage rates in 2021 made steep home prices more palatable for home buyers to enter the market. However, it is unlikely that we’ll see a continued increase in homeownership while mortgage rates remain elevated.
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