South Florida Posts Sharp Home Ownership Declines

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ORLANDO (CBSMiami/AP) — Fewer and fewer Floridians own their own homes.

New figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau show Florida had one of the largest declines in homeownership in the nation during the past decade. It went from more than 73 percent at the start of 2005 to just under 65 percent at the end of last year, according to the Census.

The only states with steeper declines were Nevada, North Dakota, Minnesota, Alabama and Arizona.

Like Florida, Nevada and Arizona underwent a housing boom over the last decade that was followed by a severe bust during which many homeowners lost their dwellings to foreclosure.

Among Florida's largest cities, the metro area with the steepest decline in homeownership rate was South Florida, which went from a rate of 71 percent in early 2005 to 59 percent at the end of last year.

Orlando's homeownership rate went from 70 percent in 2005 to almost 62 percent last year.

Metro Tampa, which also includes St. Petersburg, went from 73 percent in 2005 to 66 percent last year.

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