Housing
The Great Housing Reset
The rise of renting in the U.S. isn’t just about high housing prices, or preferences for city living, but about the flexibility to compete in today’s economy.
The American Dream has long been defined by homeownership, but current trends suggest this aspiration is waning. The U.S. appears to be undergoing a gradual, long-term shift from a society of mostly homeowners to more of a mix of homeowners and renters. This shift is not just about rising home prices, or a greater demand for urban living, but rather the transition from the old industrial economy to the new, highly clustered, knowledge-based one.
The national homeownership rate has plummeted over the past decade, from an all-time high of 68.8 percent in 2005 to 62.7 percent in 2015. That’s lower than the rate in 1985, when homeownership stood at 63.5 percent.