The Commerce Department reports that the home ownership rate in the US is currently at an 18 year low of 65%. Since 2008 there have been almost 5 million homes foreclosed, though the velocity is slowing down significantly. There were 43,000 foreclosures in February this year, a 15% decline from the same time last year. As a result, there are fewer existing homes for sale. At the same time, builders are selling fewer, though higher priced homes to keep labor costs down and profits up. This is driving home prices upward; Case Shiller shows values are up 12.9% Y-O-Y in their 20 cities analyzed. March showed a peak increase of 13.7%.
