Justice
Chart of the Day: A Nation of Renters
The number of homeowners is falling.
Renting is on the rise. As MSNBC reports, the number of housing units occupied by renters rose by 749,000 in the last quarter of 2011, according to Commerce Department figures. At the same time, home ownership rates have been falling, and are now down to their lowest levels since 1998. The graphic above highlights these trends (though, note that two different scales being used—an earlier version of this post missed that fact, and we apologize for any confusion on that score).
We've documented the downside of home ownership. As colleague Emily Badger wrote "home ownership is out in the new economy. It’s now a liability, not an ambition." As she explains: