Affordability has a strong impact on homeownership.  Not surprisingly, four of five states with the lowest homeownership rates in the US are characterized by markets with high prices.  Washington, DC has the lowest homeownership rate at 45.3%.   At the opposite end of the spectrum, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Michigan, and Maine have among the highest affordability and homeownership rates.  The dispersion of state homeownership rates is a wide 22.4 percentage points around the US average of 65%, split symmetrically at 11.2 points on either side, with the exception of DC.  More information about state homeownership rates is available in the Local Market Reports for the 2nd quarter of 2013.

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