U.S. Homeownership at Decade Low as Foreclosures Rise

The U.S. homeownership rate was unchanged at a 10-year low in the third quarter as banks stepped up property seizures from borrowers who defaulted on mortgages.

The homeownership rate was 66.9 percent, matching the second-quarter level that was the lowest since 1999, the U.S. Census Bureau said in a report today. The homeowner vacancy rate, or the share of properties vacant and for sale, was unchanged at 2.5 percent, according to the report.

Lenders are repossessing properties as borrowers fall behind in mortgage payments after the worst housing crash since the Great Depression. Banks seized a record 288,345 homes in the third quarter, up 22 percent from a year earlier, according to an Oct. 14 report from RealtyTrac Inc. in Irvine, California.

Read Full Article from Bloomberg

- Posted: 2010-11-02 10:55:55

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