The national rate of homeownership is standing at its lowest level in more than ten years, seen as curtailed by weak housing demand and rising foreclosures.

The percentage level of households who have their own households remains unchanged at about 66.9%, between July and September, as the Census Bureau seems to suggest. The same number was still the one recorded between April and June.

The last recorded rate lower than the current one was by the turn of the century in 1999, standing at 66.7%.

64% of homes in America were under the occupant’s ownership for decades. This climbed up by 1995, after President Bill Clinton’s strong encouragement as well as from the former president, George W. Bush.

Homeownership is understood to have hit its peak in 2004, at 69%, at a time when housing boom was at its highest point. However, by 2006, after the bubble burst in housing the rate has shown to be in a declining move since that time.

A director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research based in Washington expressed that the trend in the rise had people assuming the rise in homeownership was the best thing.

As foreclosures looks to be rising and standards in lending gets even tighter, they are expected to keep on pushing down the rates, expected to go back to levels existing prior to 1995.

As the housing troubles ranges on, the role of the government in promotion of homeownership has been sharply criticized. A good number of analysts come to the agreement that the Bush and Clinton administrations had placed a lot of emphasis on owning homes, through the enabling and promotion of loans to people with unhealthy credit as well as borrowers with minute down payments.

Analysts also agree that in many cases, there is a lot of sense in letting many people just to rent.

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