How Has Homeownership Changed Since the Great Recession?

Homeownership today looks a lot different than it did during the Great Recession, but has it changed entirely for the better? According to Forbes, the share of owner-occupied households earning incomes of $100,000 to $149,999 rose from 16% in 2010 to 19.2% in 2020, while the share of households with incomes of $150,000 or more rose from 11.7% in 2010 to 20.5% in 2020.

While the share of households on the upper end of the market is increasing, the share of middle-income households is steadily declining as homeownership becomes more expensive. In order to live in popular metros like New York City, Cleveland, and St. Louis, homebuyers are dishing out way more money than they were in 2010, sending the share of owner-occupied city households earning $150,000 or more to new highs in 2020. 

Examining the changes in housing on the city level from 2010 to 2020, there are some startling data points. In New York City, always an expensive city to live in, a little over one-fifth (20.4%) of owner-occupied households earned $150,000 or more in 2010. However, a decade later, owner-occupied households in New York City earning $150,000 or more had grown to just under a third (32.9%). That’s an increase of 12.5 percentage-points, which is equal to an increase of 61.3% in the share of the highest-earning households in New York City.

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