Opening the Doors to Homeownership: Challenges to Federal Policy.” http://www.huduser.org/publications/pdf/brd/04Gabriel.pdf

The U.S. homeownership rate reached a record high of 67.1 percent in mid-2000, a gain of approximately 3 percentage points from 1994. By then, some 71 million U.S. households had attained homeownership. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) stated policy objective is to reach a 70-percent homeownership rate by 2006. However, the question is whether such a goal is achievable. To shed light on the homeownership policy objective, this article examines factors that have contributed to the recent gains in homeownership and those that might constrain further upward movement in that rate. In particular, the article describes the role of household economic status and educational attainment in the achievement of homeownership and considers the roles of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Ginnie Mae, and the other secondary market institutions in support of Federal housing policy. Recent Gains in Homeownership: Winners and Losers Evidence from the 5-year period ending in the third quarter of 1999 suggests that much of the gain in homeownership can be attributed to minority communitie