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High Home Ownership Indicates Rental Shortage

ST. PAUL, MN-High property tax rates and neighborhood resistance are among factors blamed for the lack of multifamily housing. Legislators are looking at major property-tax reform that could address the issue.

By Jim McCartney | Updated on May 24, 2001

ST. PAUL, MN-The Twin Cities has one of the highest rates of home ownership in the nation. But that’s in part due to the fact there are so few places to rent.

The home ownership rate is 71.4%, compared with 67.8% in 1990, among the highest in the US, according to the latest demographic data from the US Census. Double-income households, favorable mortgage interest rates, low unemployment and economic prosperity fuel the high ownership rate.

But it also relates to another trend uncovered by the recent census: The Twin Cities has an overall vacancyrate for the seven-county region is 2.5%, among the lowest in the country. The cities of Minneapolisand St. Paul both experienced a drop in actual number of housing units, but an increase in the number ofhouseholds because vacancy rates dropped significantly during the decade. That indicates a shortage ofavailable housing, according to the Metropolitan Council, a state agency that overseesmetropolitan-wide housing, transportation and planning agency.

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