Economists at Wells Fargo Securities indicate that 857,420 new households were formed in the U. S. during 2012, but the number of homeowners dropped by 237,750, the fifth straight year that figure has dropped, while the number of renters increased by 1.1 million. In 2012 single-family homes accounted for 28.5 percent of renter-occupied homes, a larger share of housing than any other type. In addition, according to nationalmortgagenews, homeownership among households aged 25-34 has dropped by 8.5 percent since 2007, including a two percent drop in 2012. MHProNews has learned the Fannie Mae Housing Insight Report concludes, “The findings related to homeownership rates and single-family rentals are important because they reveal the durability of the demand shift from owning to renting that emerged from the housing crisis and Great Recession.”
