Homeownership Takes on New Meaning

Homeownership is declining in the United States, so what does the new homeowner of the post-recession era look like?

1 minute read

October 12, 2017, 7:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Lawns and Suburban Homes

Johnny Habell / Shutterstock

As the country has emerged from the Great Recession and the Millennial generation has come of age in a new kind of housing crisis, homeownership has declined and the whole idea of homeownership has taken on a new character.

Jenny Schuetz details the contemporary "face" of homeownership in the United States—i.e., "the demographic and economic characteristics of prospective homeowners."

Schuetz calls on household-level data from the most recent American Housing Survey (AHS 2015), using new homeowners as a proxy to compare to renters and long-time homeowners, as well as new homeowners in 2001 and 2015.

Click through to the article to see data on new homeowners as broken down by age, household size, race, wealth, education, and more, as well as the characteristics of the building stock new homeowners move into in 2015. Schuetz also packages all of the findings of this analysis in three policy implications that planners will want to note.

Monday, October 9, 2017 in Brookings

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Concrete Brutalism building with slanted walls and light visible through an atrium.

What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities

How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.

February 28, 2025 - Justin Hollander

Complete Street

‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge

Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.

February 27, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

Green electric Volkswagen van against a beach backdrop.

The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan

Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.

March 3, 2025 - ABC 7 Eyewitness News

View of mountains with large shrubs in foreground in Altadena, California.

Healing Through Parks: Altadena’s Path to Recovery After the Eaton Fire

In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena is uniting to restore Loma Alta Park, creating a renewed space for recreation, community gathering, and resilience.

March 9 - Pasadena NOw

Aerial view of single-family homes with swimming pools in San Diego, California.

San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule

The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.

March 9 - Axios

Close-up of row of electric cars plugged into chargers at outdoor station.

Electric Vehicles for All? Study Finds Disparities in Access and Incentives

A new UCLA study finds that while California has made progress in electric vehicle adoption, disadvantaged communities remain underserved in EV incentives, ownership, and charging access, requiring targeted policy changes to advance equity.

March 9 - UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation