The data comes from the Census Bureau, which defines the homeownership rate as the percentage of households that are owner-occupied.The homeownership rate began increasing rapidly in 1995 and reached an all time high of 69.0% in 2004. The peak value was almost five percentage points higher than the pre-bubble average (64.3%), and more than three percentage points higher than the previous record (65.8%). The homeownership rate has declined steadily since the bursting of the housing bubble but the current rate (66.9%) is still more than two percentage points higher than the pre-bubble average.
We can't rule out secular changes that might be driving long-term increases in the rate of homeownership (although it's clear that the rapid increase between 1995 and 2004 was not attributable to long-term factors). Perhaps the aging population is causing a secular rise in the rate of homeownership. If so, then perhaps the rate will settle down at a level that's higher than the pre-bubble average. Considering the state of the economy and the over-stretched finances of US homeowners, however, I think we'll be lucky if the homeownership rate doesn't fall substantially below 64.3% during the next few years.
