2010 Census Finds Lower Homeownership Rates

The 2010 census found far lower homeownership rates in every age group than the Census Bureau had estimated for the same time period based on the Housing Vacancy Survey. The census count of homeowners and renters by age for the nation as a whole was released this morning. Take a look at how the census numbers compare with the survey estimates:

	census	survey	diff
Total	65.1	66.9	-1.8
<25	16.1	22.9	-6.8
25-34	42.0	44.4	-2.4
35-44	62.3	65.0	-2.7
45-54	71.5	73.5	-2.0
55-64	77.3	79.0	-1.7
65-plus	77.5	80.5	-3.0
65-74	80.2	82.0	-1.7
75-plus	74.5	78.9	-4.4

The census numbers are, of course, the far more accurate figures. The Housing Vacancy Survey methodology will have to be revised and once that is accomplished all homeownership estimates going forward will use census numbers as a base. The Mystery of the Young Homeowner has been solved--it was a methodological error!