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[T]he rate of home ownership fell to 65.1 percent in April 2010, 1.1 percentage points lower than it was in 2000. The decline was the biggest drop since the 1930s, when home ownership plunged 4.2 percent. The most recent decade-over-decade drop, however, only tells half the story. Home ownership during the 2000s "was really high in the middle of the decade, up to almost 70 percent at one point around 2004," said Ellen Wilson, a survey statistician with the bureau. The crash from that peak was more than 4 percentage points in just about five years -- a far more dramatic decline than the 1.1 percent drop over the 10-year period. ... http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,1242956.story

Great Depression -4.2%
Great Recession -4%

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HOMEOWNERSHIP RATES 1940 1930 1920 1910 1900 United States 43.6% 47.8% 45.6% 45.9% 46.5% http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housi...ric/owner.html

Statistics are so deceptive at times ...