While U.S. home prices have come down from recent highs, they remain relatively steep. Despite this, homeownership rates have gone up in recent years.

More specifically, according to a LendingTree analysis of the latest housing data, the share of owner-occupied homes in the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas increased by 108 basis points from 2012 to 2022. In other words, our findings indicate that even though home values in some areas have more than doubled since 2012, more people have become homeowners.

• As of 2022, almost 43.5 million of the 70.4 million occupied housing units in the nation’s 50 largest metros were owner-occupied. The overall homeownership rate across these metros is 61.72%.
• Homeownership rates are highest in the Detroit, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh metros. The homeownership rates in these metros are 71.49%, 70.54% and 70.45%, respectively.
• Homeownership rates are lowest in the Los Angeles, New York, and San Diego metros. At 47.94%, Los Angeles is the only metro among the 50 largest where the homeownership rate is lower than 50.00%. 
• From 2012 to 2022, the homeownership rate rose by 108 basis points from 60.64% to 61.72%. That’s an increase of 6,155,379 owner-occupied housing units. 

You can check out our full report here: https://www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/homeownership-rates-study/

LendingTree's Senior Economist and report author, Jacob Channel, had this to say:

"In simplest terms, homeownership rates have gone up despite rising prices because low pandemic-era mortgage rates helped offset increased home values and incentivize homeownership. Remember that while home prices play a role in how feasible homebuying is, mortgage rates are often just as important. Over the coming years, homeownership rates may decline in some areas as the nation continues to adjust to our higher-rate housing market."