Right on schedule, home ownership at lowest level in a decade

11/2, "Home ownership at lowest level in a decade," AP

"The nation's homeownership rate is at the lowest level in more than a decade, hampered by a rise in foreclosures and weak demand for housing.

• The percentage of households that owned their homes was unchanged at 66.9 percent in the July-September quarter, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. That's the same as the April-June quarter.

The last time the rate was lower was in 1999, when the rate was 66.7 percent.

• The nation's homeownership rate was around 64 percent from 1985 through 1995. It then rose dramatically during the Clinton and Bush administrations,
  

hitting a peak of more than 69 percent in 2004 at the height of the housing boom.

• After the housing bubble burst, the rate has been declining gradually.

About 18.8 million homes, or 14.4 percent of all houses and apartments, were vacant, according to the government survey.

• That was down slightly from the second quarter of the year, when 18.9 million houses and apartments were vacant.

• About 2.5 percent of all primary residences were vacant and for sale and

10.3 percent of all year-round rental units were listed as vacant"

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