The American Dream – complete with white picket fence – is far from dead.
To recognize the importance owning a home has on American families and the nation’s overall economy, President Donald Trump declared June National Homeownership Month.
“This month, we celebrate those Americans whose success and determination have helped make them homeowners,” Trump said in a release from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
For generations of families, the goal of owning one’s home has been essential to achieving the American dream, HUD said in the release. HUD recognizes the value of owning a home in building household wealth and is working to ensure that credit qualified borrowers can access and sustain their homes.
Since 1934, more than 47 million households purchased a home with mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Through FHA, and a national network of HUD-approved counseling agencies, HUD is working to make responsible homeownership a reality for millions of Americans.
“Homeownership serves as an enduring symbol of security and prosperity, and it provides many Americans with a legacy they can pass down to their children and grandchildren,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in the release. “During National Homeownership Month, we recognize the abiding value of owning a home, and we rededicate ourselves toward helping hard-working families to find their place in the American Dream.”
Ten years after the housing crisis, home sales are at pre-crisis levels and home prices are on the rise in most parts of the country. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) took the opportunity to pledge its leadership in efforts to grow homeownership in June and beyond.
“Homeownership changes lives and enhances futures, and many Americans see it as one of their greatest hopes,” NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall said in a statement. “National Homeownership Month is a time to celebrate and promote the modern American Dream of owning a home.”
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