The U.S. homeownership rate is finally poised to rise significantly as household formations by owners grew faster in the first quarter than those by renters — the first time that's happened in more than a decade. While the share of Americans who owned their homes was up only slightly from a year earlier, at 63.6 percent, the number of new owners jumped by more than 850,000, compared with an increase in renter households of 365,000.
