The nation is in the midst of a home-buying boom, pushing homeownership rates across the country to record highs. After a small decline in the mid- to late-1980s, the percentage of U.S. households who own a home rose to an unprecedented 65.7 percent last year. Massachusetts has seen the same trend. Between 1990 and 1997, the state’s homeownership rate jumped from 58.6 percent to 62.3 percent. The bad news? Almost every other state is doing better on this measure of the attainability of the American Dream. Massachusetts ranked 43rd in homeownership last year–ahead only of Texas, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, California, New York, and Hawaii. Certainly the state’s high housing prices are a prime culprit. According to the National Association of Realtors, the median sale price for an existing single-family home in Massachusetts last year was $186,800–the second highest in the country, after Hawaii (and more than twice as high as the median sale price of 18 other states). And it’s climbing as we speak. By the year 2000, the Realtors group predicts, it will be $213,300.

Homeownership 1990 |
Rank |
State |
Rate |
1. |
Maine |
74.2% |
2. |
Pennsylvania |
73.8% |
3. |
Vermont |
72.6% |
4. |
Michigan |
72.3% |
5. |
West Virginia |
72.0% |
6. |
S. Carolina |
71.4% |
7. |
Iowa |
70.7% |
8. |
Oklahoma |
70.3% |
9. |
Utah |
70.1% |
10. |
Virginia |
69.8% |
11. |
Idaho |
69.4% |
12. |
Mississippi |
69.4% |
13. |
Montana |
69.1% |
14. |
Kansas |
69.0% |
15. |
N. Carolina |
69.0% |
16. |
Wyoming |
68.9% |
17. |
Ohio |
68.7% |
18. |
New Mexico |
68.6% |
19. |
Alabama |
68.4% |
20. |
Tennessee |
68.3% |
21. |
Wisconsin |
68.3% |
22. |
Minnesota |
68.0% |
23. |
Connecticut |
67.9% |
24. |
Arkansas |
67.8% |
25. |
Louisiana |
67.8% |
26. |
Delaware |
67.7% |
27. |
Nebraska |
67.3% |
28. |
North Dakota |
67.2% |
29. |
Indiana |
67.0% |
30. |
South Dakota |
66.2% |
31. |
Kentucky |
65.8% |
32. |
Florida |
65.1% |
33. |
New Hampshire |
65.0% |
34. |
New Jersey |
65.0% |
35. |
Maryland |
64.9% |
36. |
Arizona |
64.5% |
37. |
Oregon |
64.4% |
38. |
Georgia |
64.3% |
39. |
Missouri |
64.0% |
40. |
Illinois |
63.0% |
41. |
Washington |
61.8% |
42. |
Texas |
59.7% |
43. |
Colorado |
59.0% |
44. |
Massachusetts |
58.6% |
45. |
Rhode Island |
58.5% |
46. |
Alaska |
58.4% |
47. |
Nevada |
55.8% |
48. |
Hawaii |
55.5% |
49. |
California |
53.8% |
50. |
New York |
53.3% |
U.S. Average |
63.9% |
|
Homeownership 1997 |
Rank |
State |
Rate |
1. |
Minnesota |
75.4% |
2. |
Kentucky |
75.0% |
3. |
Maine |
74.9% |
4. |
West Virginia |
74.6% |
5. |
Indiana |
74.1% |
6. |
S. Carolina |
74.1% |
7. |
Mississippi |
73.7% |
8. |
Michigan |
73.3% |
9. |
Pennsylvania |
73.3% |
10. |
Iowa |
72.7% |
11. |
Utah |
72.5% |
12. |
Idaho |
72.3% |
13. |
Alabama |
71.3% |
14. |
Georgia |
70.9% |
15. |
Maryland |
70.5% |
16. |
Missouri |
70.5% |
17. |
N. Carolina |
70.2% |
18. |
Tennessee |
70.2% |
19. |
New Mexico |
69.6% |
20. |
Delaware |
69.2% |
21. |
Vermont |
69.1% |
22. |
Ohio |
69.0% |
23. |
Oklahoma |
68.5% |
24. |
Virginia |
68.4% |
25. |
Wisconsin |
68.3% |
26. |
Connecticut |
68.1% |
27. |
Illinois |
68.1% |
28. |
North Dakota |
68.1% |
29. |
South Dakota |
67.6% |
30. |
Wyoming |
67.6% |
31. |
Montana |
67.5% |
32. |
Alaska |
67.2% |
33. |
Florida |
66.9% |
34. |
New Hampshire |
66.8% |
35. |
Arkansas |
66.7% |
36. |
Nebraska |
66.7% |
37. |
Kansas |
66.5% |
38. |
Louisiana |
66.4% |
39. |
Colorado |
64.1% |
40. |
New Jersey |
63.1% |
41. |
Arizona |
63.0% |
42. |
Washington |
62.9% |
43. |
Massachusetts |
62.3% |
44. |
Texas |
61.5% |
45. |
Nevada |
61.2% |
46. |
Oregon |
61.0% |
47. |
Rhode Island |
58.7% |
48. |
California |
55.7% |
49. |
New York |
52.6% |
50. |
Hawaii |
50.2% |
U.S. Average |
65.7% |
|
Meet the Author

Median sale price 1997 |
Rank |
State |
Price |
1. |
Hawaii |
$290,000 |
2. |
Massachusetts |
$186,800 |
3. |
California |
$186,100 |
4. |
New Jersey |
$171,400 |
5. |
Delaware |
$148,700 |
6. |
New Hampshire |
$148,500 |
7. |
New York |
$143,700 |
8. |
Connecticut |
$138,500 |
9. |
Washington |
$136,800 |
10. |
Illinois |
$135,900 |
11. |
Colorado |
$135,200 |
12. |
Oregon |
$134,600 |
13. |
Nevada |
$131,900 |
14. |
Alaska |
$129,900 |
15. |
Utah |
$122,900 |
16. |
Maryland |
$121,500 |
17. |
Vermont |
$120,300 |
18. |
Rhode Island |
$119,600 |
19. |
N. Carolina |
$117,400 |
20. |
Virginia |
$114,200 |
21. |
New Mexico |
$110,100 |
22. |
Pennsylvania |
$107,100 |
23. |
Arizona |
$106,100 |
24. |
Minnesota |
$104,800 |
25. |
Wisconsin |
$104,500 |
26. |
Michigan |
$103,100 |
27. |
Florida |
$102,800 |
28. |
Ohio |
$100,900 |
29. |
S. Carolina |
$99,800 |
30. |
Tennessee |
$97,900 |
31. |
Alabama |
$ 97,000 |
32. |
Georgia |
$ 96,500 |
33. |
Montana |
$ 91,600 |
34. |
Indiana |
$ 90,100 |
35. |
Maine |
$ 88,500 |
36. |
Missouri |
$ 88,100 |
37. |
North Dakota |
$87,900 |
38. |
Texas |
$ 87,900 |
39. |
Louisiana |
$ 85,900 |
40. |
Wyoming |
$ 85,900 |
41. |
Idaho |
$ 85,500 |
42. |
Nebraska |
$ 84,900 |
43. |
Kansas |
$ 83,500 |
44. |
Iowa |
$ 83,300 |
45. |
South Dakota |
$80,600 |
46. |
Kentucky |
$ 80,200 |
47. |
West Virginia |
$78,000 |
48. |
Arkansas |
$ 77,200 |
49. |
Mississippi |
$73,200 |
50. |
Oklahoma |
$ 72,800 |
U.S. average |
$113,392 |
Sources: Homeownership rates from U.S. Census Bureau. Median sale prices from Regional Financial Associates, Inc., which estimates figures for the National Association of Realtors. U.S. average calculated by CommonWealth.
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