It simply looks at the percentage of Americans who own their home instead of rent.
The most recent report from the Census Bureau shows the rate at 64.2%.
Most importantly, this number is showing stability after many years of change.
After many years of hovering around 64%, the Home-ownership Rate started increasing in 1996 and reached as high as 69.5% in 2005.
2008 started several years of declining back to the pre-1996 levels of 64%.
So today it’s back to what seems to be “normal” based the long-term average.