Posted By:
Solomon CramerWhere is your 150M number coming from? I certainly don't question that CNN could make mistakes. But the simpliest math I can see:
300 million people in the US
195 million of those people are over the age of 25 (http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFFacts?_submenuId=factsheet_1&_sse=on)
I would say that you're not going to have that many sub-25 year olds owning a house.
Now, out of every single person over 25 in this country - you believe there are 150 million households with mortgages? Even if only half of those people were married and living together (50 million couples and 100 million singles) - that would indicate every single household has a mortgage? No renters, no one living in old age homes, etc. etc. It just doesn't add up.
Here is the housing information from the same website:
Housing Characteristics - show more >> Estimate
Total housing units 126,311,823
Occupied housing units 111,617,402
Owner-occupied housing units 75,086,485
Renter-occupied housing units 36,530,917
Vacant housing units 14,694,421
Owner-occupied homes 75,086,485
Median value (dollars) 185,200
Median of selected monthly owner costs
With a mortgage (dollars) 1,402
Not mortgaged (dollars) 399
Best I can read this, in 2006 there were 75 million owner occupied homes, which would be at most 75 million mortgages if everyone owed something on their houese.