Buried at the bottom of an article about a Queens College study revealing that home ownership in New York City is at an all-time high of 33 percent was the fact that the city and the state have the lowest homeownership rate in the country. In fact, the national average is 68 percent. A city like New York, with its preponderance of young singles, transient population and high prices is going to have a lower levels of home ownership, but perhaps part of what’s been going on in recent years is a readjustment of the city’s home ownership equilibrium point. There’s no golden rule stating that home ownership has to stay at 33 percent. What does it mean for the market if it moves to 40 percent? The study does not that the biggest increases in ownership occurred in the city’s poorent neighborhoods with increased by minorities, women and immigrants. What about all the wealthy foreigners using the weak dollar to buy second homes in Manhattan?
Study: City Boasts Record Number Of Homeowners [NY1]
Photo by Tracy Collins