Getting Your Own Place? Buying Is Now Outpacing Renting in U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Following a surge in the number of Americans forming households as renters over the past decade in lieu of homeownership, the tide is starting to turn in the other direction.

The number of owner-occupied housing units rose 2 percent in 2017, logging the fastest pace of increase over a four-quarter stretch since 2005 -- around the time the homeownership rate peaked.

Units occupied by renters were down 0.2 percent from a year earlier in the fourth quarter, marking the third straight quarter of year-over-year declines. The combination propelled the homeownership rate to 64.2 percent at the end of 2017, up from the five-decade low of 62.9 percent recorded in mid-2016.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Boesler in New York at mboesler1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, Scott Lanman, Alister Bull

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