A Nation of Renters

We are becoming a nation of renters: According to RealtyTrac's latest Cash, Investor & Distressed Sales Report, owner-occupant buyers accounted for just 63.2 percent of all residential single family home and condo sales in the first quarter of 2015. That's down from 65.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, and 68.6 percent a year ago.

Meanwhile non-owner-occupant buyers - cleverly defined as a buyer who purchased a property but has their property tax bill mailed somewhere else - reached a new high of 36.8 percent in the first quarter of 2015, the highest level for that figure since the first quarter of 2011. Some 44.7 percent of all non-owner-occupied purchases went to all-cash buyers, down from 61.0 percent a year ago.

The U.S. Census is also reporting that the homeownership rate in the first quarter of 2015 fell to 63.7 percent, the lowest since 1990. Whether it's fallout from the recession and the housing crisis, or simply Americans not wanting to put down roots, it's clear that buying a house to live in is in a downward trend.