Home Ownership rate falls for workers with children

The USA Today reports:

Nearly 70% of Americans own their homes, a record high, but the rate of homeownership for working families with children is lower than in 1978, according to a study being released today by the Center for Housing Policy.

The surprising trend is being driven by a combination of factors: soaring housing costs that have overshot wage increases, higher health care bills and a rise in the number of single parents.

Minority working families have struggled the most. Their homeownership rate has stagnated at 45%, far below white families (71%) as of 2003, the last year for which figures are available.

The effects are being felt in communities where teachers, police and firefighters can't afford to live in the communities where they work, if they want to own homes.

Some see longer-term consequences if the trend doesn't change.

“You need a youthful workforce to replace people who are retiring,” says Barbara Lipman of the Center for Housing Policy, the research arm of the National Housing Conference, a housing affordability advocacy group. “It's an important part of economic vitality.”

Just think with state,local,and federal programs all claiming to help make housing more affordable look at the result.Imagine a world without Fannie Mae and zoning restrictions.It appears the government is the enemy of middle income America.