Young-Adult Housing Demand Continues to Slide, But Young Homeowners Experience Vastly Improved Affordability

The Great Recession and housing bust hit young adults hard. As economic conditions deteriorated, young-adult household formation and homeownership fell sharply. In recent years, however, young Americans’ economic circumstances have begun to brighten, with the unemployment rate for 25-34 year olds dropping and their income stabilizing.

In the most recent edition of Housing Insights, Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group uses newly released 2013 data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) to show that two key metrics of housing demand – the headship rate and homeownership rate – continued to decline for young adults, despite their recent economic gains. However, the ACS data also bring some good news. In particular, the rate of housing cost burdens among young owner-occupants continues to plummet.

To learn more about these findings, read our latest Housing Insights.

Young-Adult Housing Demand Continues to Slide, But Young Homeowners Experience Vastly Improved Affordability (PDF)