The Number

A study recently published by the Center for California Real Estate found that the homeownership rate in the state has hovered about 10 percentage points below the rest of the country and is likely to remain so until at least 2030, creating several “lost generations” of homeowners. The June 19 study, titled “California Homeownership in 2030 and Beyond,” was authored by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis for a publication of the center, the research arm of the California Association of Realtors. Based on their estimates, 56 percent of California households headed by someone born between 1946 and 1955 – the so-called early baby boomers – were homeowners when they were between the ages of 35 and 44. For the millennial generation, the rate in that age bracket will fall to 45 percent. “Our projections suggest that several ‘lost generations’ of Californians – including late baby boomers and members of generations X and Y (the latter which is also known as ‘millennials’) – are on track to reach homeownership rates far below those of the so-called greatest and silent generations who came before them,” the report states. A companion study titled “Fostering Growth and Opportunity in California for a Strong Middle Class” by Loren Kaye of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education, cited ways to turn around the downward trend for the state’s homebuyers. “The only solution to the high cost and severe shortage of housing is to increase supply, but California’s environmental and land use laws undermine this imperative,” Kaye wrote. “Policymakers now favor more housing in dense, urban areas, but have not, in turn, reduced the inevitable permitting, zoning and litigation burdens. … Lawmakers should take every opportunity to expand our housing footprint, or housing costs will continue to stifle economic growth for future generations.” – Joel Russell