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February 2004 Homeownership DetailsEvery February the Census Bureau releases statistics on housing vacancy and homeownership for the preceding year. While national and limited regional data is available quarterly, it is the annual data that provides details for states and the top 75 metropolitan areas. Record home sales and very strong housing construction led to a new national record homeownership rate in 2003—68.3 percent of households owned their own home, up 0.4 percent from 2002. This is more than four percent higher than 10 years ago—a remarkable surge. As usual, the devil is in the details. While homeownership in neighboring Idaho and Oregon both increased by over a full percentage point in the last year, Washington’s ownership rate slipped by a full point, to 65.9 percent. Only seven states and the District of Columbia recorded lower homeownership rates last year. Of those, California, Hawaii, and Nevada are in the West. The fact that Washington’s economy was weaker in 2003 than most other states helps explain the decline. Nevada, whose tourism-based economy is similarly depressed in the post 9/11 era, also experienced weaker homeownership. On a metropolitan area basis, the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area had a 62.9 percent homeownership rate in 2003, and the Portland-Vancouver area had a 66.1 percent rate. The Seattle area measure was 1.6 percent below 2002 while the Portland value was 0.2 percent higher. Nationwide, metropolitan area homeownership was 66.5 percent. Of the 75 areas for which statistics were published, 16 had a lower homeownership than greater Seattle, including five communities in California. One other interesting statistic from the homeownership data examines rates of ownership by age of householder. This data is only available for the nation or regions, so the West data is reported here. Ownership rates were reported in five-year increments for householders beginning with those under age 25 to householders over age 75. Only three of the 12 age groups reported lower homeownership rates than a year ago—the oldest group, the 65-69 group, and the very young. The two older groups may have been taking advantage of the strong market to cash out with solid profits, while the very young are finding the big price jumps in many urban areas are making it difficult to afford a purchase or accumulate a sufficient down payment, despite such affordable interest rates. |
Media ReleaseGlenn
E. Crellin, Director PO Box 644861 Statistics on Washington’s housing market and other useful information are available on WCRER’s Web site: www.cbe.wsu.edu/~wcrer. For other information on real estate markets around the State of Washington, or general information about the real estate industry in the state (excluding legal questions), readers can reach the WCRER at 1-800-835-9683. |