housing "Elderly Homeownership Rate Increases" (02/28/95)

            EMBARGOED UNTIL: FEB. 28, 1995 (TUESDAY)

Public Information Office                              CB95-25
301-457-2794
301-457-4067 (TDD)

Mary Naifeh
Jeanne Woodward
301-763-8120

   ELDERLY HOMEOWNERSHIP RATE INCREASES BETWEEN 1980 AND 1990,

                      CENSUS BUREAU REPORTS

     EMBARGOED UNTIL:  FEB. 28, 1995 (TUESDAY) - The
homeownership rate for householders aged 65 and over climbed from
70 percent in 1980 to 75 percent in 1990, while the rate for
householdership in general declined slightly, according to a new
statistical brief released today by the Commerce Department's
Census Bureau.

     Mary Naifeh, the author of the brief entitled, Housing of
the Elderly (SB/94-33), says, "The data indicate that all but 3
states recorded a gain in ownership among the elderly
population."  There was no significant change in elderly
homeownership rates between 1980 and 1990 for South Dakota,
Nevada, and Alaska.

     Elderly homeownership rates topped 80 percent in 11 states: 
Utah, Idaho, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Mississippi, Florida, South
Carolina, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, and Kansas.  At the other
end of the spectrum were New York and the District of Columbia
where the rates were under 60 percent.

     "For a majority of elderly homeowners, their most recent
move was to either a new or a relatively new home," Naifeh points
out.  "In fact, this was the case for slightly more than six out
of 10 movers."  In this instance, a new or relatively new home
means one built either during the decade or preceding the decade
in which the householder moved.

     The brief covers topics on where the elderly live, their
chances of owning their home, the type and age of structures they
live in, and the odds of lacking plumbing and telephones.  The
brief compares 1990 data with similar information from the 1980
census.  More extensive data can be found in 1990 census Subject
Summary Tape File 8.

                               -X-

Editor's Note:  EMBARGOED UNTIL:  FEB. 28, 1995 (TUESDAY) - media
representatives may obtain copies of the brief from the bureau's
Public Information Office by telephone:  301-457-2794, fax: 
301-457-3670, or e-mail:  pio@census.gov.  Non-media orders
should go to the bureau's Customer Services Office on