The latest homeownership rate reached 65.5% in the third quarter of 2026, according to the Census’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). While this was a modest quarterly decrease, the broader picture 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 3.7 percentage points lower and remains below the 25-year average rate of 66.3%.
Compared to the previous year, homeownership rates decreased in three age groups. Householders aged 35-44 experienced the largest drop, declining by 1 percentage point from 61.1% to 60.1%. Among younger households, the homeownership rate for those under 35 increased 0.9 percentage points to 36.6% in the third quarter of 2026. This age group is particularly sensitive to mortgage rates and the inventory of entry-level homes. The 55-64 age group saw a 0.6 percentage point decrease, declining from 76% to 75.4%. Homeownership rates for householders ages 65 years and over inched up by 1.2 percentage points over the same time, followed by 0.4 percentage point increase for 45-54 age group
The national rental vacancy rate inched up to 7.6% for the third quarter of 2026, on a steadily increasing trend since 2023. Meanwhile, the homeowner vacancy rate stayed at 1.2%. The upticks in both homeowner and rental vacancy rate signal an increase in the existing home supply.
The housing stock-based HVS revealed that the total number of households increased to 134 million in the third quarter of 2026 from 133.2 million a year ago. This increase was driven by both owner and renter household growth. The number of renter households rose by 70,000, while owner-occupied households increased by around 0.8 million over the same period.
