Did Homeownership in the U.S Just Shoot Up?

• July 28th 2020

by UrbanTurf Staff

New numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau released today reveal the largest rise in homeownership in the country in twelve years. However, those statistics may be a little misleading. 

The report states that the homeownership rate jumped almost 4 percentage points in the second quarter to 67.9% with some of the largest gains in younger households. The under 35 age bracket saw a 3.2% jump and the 35-44 year-old sector saw a rise of almost 5%. Black and Hispanic ownership jumped by 6.4% and 4.8%, respectively. 

While this rise is notable, there is thinking that the numbers may be misleading due to the ongoing pandemic and the resulting way that data was collected. 

"As a result of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), data collection operations for the CPS/HVS were affected during the second quarter of 2020," the Census Bureau stated. "In-person interviews were suspended for the duration of the second quarter and replaced with telephone interview attempts when contact information was available. If the Field Representative was unable to get information on the sample unit, the unit was made a Type A non interview (no one home, refusal, etc)."

Calculated Risk goes into more detail as to how the data collection may have influenced the numbers. 

"This survey might show the trend, but I wouldn't rely on the absolute numbers," the blog states. "The Census Bureau is investigating the differences between the Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS), American Community Survey (ACS) and decennial Census, and analysts probably shouldn't use the HVS to estimate the excess vacant supply or household formation, or rely on the homeownership rate, except as a guide to the trend."

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/did-homeownership-in-the-us-just-shoot-up/17121.