State
of Affairs
PRESENTS
TOP NEWS
The national homeownership rate sat at a disappointing 65 percent at the end of the second quarter, and data collected by the National
Association of Realtors (NAR) shows local market conditions have created a huge gap between state homeownership figures. In a blog for the association,
Ken Fears, NAR's manager of regional economics and housing finance policy, notes that the dispersion of homeownership rates ranges equally around
the national average, with the top state—West Virginia—coming in 11.2 points above average, and the bottom state—New York—pulling in 11.2 points
below average. While New York ranked bottom among the 50 states, the District of Columbia actually claimed the lowest homeownership rate at 45.3
percent. Joining Washington, D.C., and New York at the bottom were California (with a rate of 54 percent), Nevada (56.2 percent), and Hawaii (56.7
percent). "Affordability has a strong impact on homeownership," Fears wrote. "Not surprisingly, four of five states with the lowest homeownership rates
in the U.S. are characterized by markets with high prices." At the opposite end of the spectrum, Michigan (74.9 percent), New Hampshire (74.2 percent),
Delaware (73.8 percent), and Maine (73.3 percent) round out the top five states with the highest homeownership rates in the country. They also rank
among the highest when it comes to affordability.
Note: The state-by-state trends are based on a compilation
of July 2013 real estate public records data and proprietary
mortgage loan performance transactions provided by LPS
Data & Analytics as well as a preliminary unemployment rate for
July 2013 based upon public information from the Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
LPS Data & Analytics is a trusted resource for mortgage lenders, servicers and investors—providing
market-leading data and analytics solutions to help them succeed. These offerings allow professionals
to improve performance, proactively identify risk, create mitigation strategies and accurately estimate
collateral value. An integral part of parent company LPS' end-to-end solution suite, LPS Data & Analytics
products include: property, MLS and mortgage performance data, mortgage and real estate analytics, lead
generation, portfolio monitoring and analytics, valuations and property tax reporting. To learn more about
LPS visit LPSvcs.com.
