The latest homeownership rate rose to 65.3% in the third quarter of 2025, according to the Census’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). Despite this quarterly increase, the trend continues to reflect significant affordability challenges. With mortgage interest rates remaining elevated, and housing supply still tight, housing affordability is at a multidecade low. Compared to the peak of 69.2% in 2004, the homeownership rate is currently 3.9 percentage points lower and remains below the 25-year average rate of 66.3%.
Compared to the previous year, homeownership rates increased in three age groups. Among younger households, the homeownership rate for those under 35 increased 0.5 percentage points to 37.5% in the third quarter of 2025. This age group is particularly sensitive to mortgage rates and the inventory of entry-level homes. Householders ages 45-54 experienced a 0.3 percentage-point increase from 69.7% to 70%. Homeownership rates for householders aged 55-64 inched up by 0.1 percentage point over the same time. However, homeownership rates for householders aged 35-44 and those aged 65 years and over each declined 1.2 percentage points from a year ago.
The national rental vacancy rate inched up to 7.1% for the third quarter of 2025, on steadily increasing trend since 2023. Meanwhile, the homeowner vacancy rate rose to 1.2%. These upticks in both the homeowner and rental vacancy rate signal an increase in the existing home supply.
The housing stock-based HVS revealed that the number of total households increased to 133.1 million in the third quarter of 2025 from 132.0 million a year ago. This increase was driven by both owner and renter household growth. The number of renter households rose by 0.7 million, while owner-occupied households increased by 0.4 million over the same period.
