Census: 57% of Americans 50+ Have Mortgages, and Counting (Reverse Mortgage Daily)

Reverse Mortgage Daily
(7/1/2014 7:17 PM, Cassandra Dowell)

The number of older U.S. households with mortgages is on the rise, with well over half of homeowners 50 and older currently having mortgages on their homes.

Mortgage-related activities among homeowners aged 50 has ticked up steadily over the past 10 years, the Census Bureau’s latest report finds.

From 1998 to 2001, 47% of those 50 and older had mortgages; a figure that increased to 52% between 2001 to 2004 and 57% between 2004 and 2007. During those same time periods the number of homeowners 50 and older also increased. The data, released in June, tracks population movement through 2010.

But mortgage activity among those 50 and younger actually outpaces that of their older counterparts.

A smaller share of homeowners aged 50 and older had mortgages compared with younger homeowners for all three periods analyzed. For example, nearly double of homeowners younger than 50 had a mortgage between 2004 and 2007 compared with older Americans, at 89% and 57% respectively.

For all three periods, those 50 and older were less likely to refinance their homes and withdraw equity than were homeowners under age 50.