Builders ramped up construction in April, but they were mostly building multifamily apartment buildings. A monthly report from the U.S. Census Bureau showed total housing starts up 13 percent month to month, but that was driven by a 43 percent monthly jump in buildings with five or more units. Single-family housing starts rose just under 1 percent for the month.
“Bottom line, with the home ownership rate down to 64.8 percent versus the 2004 peak of 69.2 percent, and the 50-year average of 65.4 percent, the trend to renting is obvious for a variety of reasons we all know,” said Peter Boockvar, an analyst with the Lindsey Group. “Expect this trend to continue with the home ownership rate likely falling to below the 64 percent level, give or take, seen between the mid-1980’s to mid-1990’s.”
One more "soft" step toward "Soviet Model" where villages were turned into high-rise apartments, now the scourge of every post-Soviet city. To paraphrase communist New York mayor DeBlasio, "Why should any citizen have a better place to live than any other?"* Private homes are symbolic of an individualistic, capitalistic culture, anathema to communists and democrats.
*Threatened to shut down 5 Charter schools in NYC because "every child should receive the same quality education." Ie., public education for everyone (except the oligarchs, who can afford to pay themselves around any Statist law and live as they choose. "Equality" (of living standards) is only for the little people.