MHProNews has learned from HousingWire the American homeownership rate fell from 69.2 percent in 2004 to 65.4 percent in the first quarter of this year, and Paul Diggle, a property economist with Capital Economics estimates that rate will decline to 64 percent by 2015, not seen since 1995. Diggle continues: “Compared to 2004, an additional 6.6 million households are renting, more than 90% of the increase in total household numbers over that period. Were the homeownership rate to continue falling in line with our expectations, the rental sector could expand by up to one million households per annum over the next few years. That is going to create opportunities for investors, who will own an increasing proportion of the housing stock.”

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