American homeowners said they miss renting
The cooling housing market helped increase the homeownership rate to 64% in 2018, but data from LendingTree’s latest analysis found that some American homeowners wished they could go back to renting.
LendingTree surveyed over 2,000 homeowners in the US aged 22 and older to find out their perceptions of owning their homes versus renting.
In the analysis, the company found that 67% of American homeowners think owning a home is easier than renting. However, the study also showed that many homeowners preferred renting.
LendingTree found that nearly 15% of homeowners “believe renting is easier than owning a home, and another 18% are neutral on the topic. Just 13% of homeowners across all ages wish they could go back to renting, but when broken down by age, one out of every five homeowners ages 22 to 37 say they miss renting.”
This breakdown depends on the number of years a homeowner has been in their home, according to LendingTree. The longer the occupancy, the more likely they are to believe owning is easier, according to LendingTree.
Twenty-three percent of Gen-Xers and 21% of millennials said they were unhappy with their home purchases. LendingTree reported that 14% of baby boomers and 3% of those aged 73 and older were also dissatisfied.
Overall, the findings of the study suggested that homeownership tenure is a significant indicator of whether or not a person is likely to go back to the rental market.
“Our survey found that the longer you own your home, the less likely you’ll want to rent again,” LendingTree said. “Only 7% of respondents who have owned their home for at least ten years wish they could go back to renting, compared with 19% of those who have owned for three years or less.”
