The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University recently released a fantastic study concerning Americans' relationship with real estate in the years following the Great Recession and housing bust!
What the study found, in short, was that continuing lack of jobs, debt (both student loans and more traditional debt), and slow income growth, nationalls home sales are lagging at near historic lows. Homeownership in the U.S., according to this "State of the Nation's Housing" report, is only at roughly 65%... a historic low not since since 1993. More than 20 years.
But Is That the Whole Picture?
However, the study also goes on to say that as recently as this past month, first time buyers are beginning to re-enter the market. This is driven
…