“Older Americans Buck Trend of Decreased Homeownership,” by Jeffrey M. Jones, Gallup

“U.S. homeownership rates have declined among most major demographic subgroups — including by household income and region — except among older Americans, whose homeownership rates have held steady. Overall, homeownership is down eight percentage points, from 71% to 63%. . . . Senior citizens have been immune from the trend of declining homeownership. Between 2001 and 2009, an average of 81% owned a home. Since then, 82% report owning their home. . . . Changing work patterns among seniors may also be a factor in their stable ownership rates. Seniors are the only age group among whom the percentage employed increased rather than decreased between 2001 to 2009 and 2010 to 2017.”

LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):
The bigger picture here is very scary. Homeownership among all but the elderly has plummeted while seniors are working longer and younger people are dropping out of the job market. The only glimmer of good news is the sustained home ownership of older people. They’ll need the home equity to pay for LTC after the bottom falls out of Medicaid. But what’s going to happen to the next generations who can’t afford to buy a home or save for retirement because they are not working?

Older Americans Buck Trend of Decreased Homeownership

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