National Homeownership Month

June is National Homeownership Month. It’s a month where we recognize and celebrate the benefits of homeownership and promote opportunities for Americans to achieve the dream of ownership, creating a community, and hopefully cultivating an asset that will benefit their families for generations.

National Homeownership Month was first established in 2002 by President George W. Bush as a way to encourage more Americans to consider homeownership as a way to build wealth, stability, and community. Since then, each year, the President of the United States issues a proclamation declaring June National Homeownership Month.

Throughout June, organizations and agencies nationwide hold events and activities to raise awareness about homeownership’s benefits and provide information and resources to help Americans achieve their homeownership goals. These activities may include homebuyer education classes, homeownership fairs, mortgage assistance programs, and programs focused on diverse and often underserved communities.

Owning a home can be an important and rewarding experience for many reasons.

Here are a few of them:

• Building Equity: Depending on current events and location, homes have the potential to grow in value, which owners can then use to leverage to pay for college for their children, to pay down student or medical debt, or to utilize to invest in other opportunities.
• Stability: Owning a home can provide a sense of peace and permanence. And with the current rise in rent, cost of living, and housing crisis, stability and security are vital.
• Pride of Ownership: Owning a home can provide a sense of pride and accomplishment. Calling a place “my own” has a beautiful ring to it.
• Community creation: Homeownership can also help foster a sense of community involvement, as homeowners often have a stake in the success and well-being of their neighborhood and community.

It’s important to note that homeownership is not the right choice for everyone, and there are certainly some potential downsides to owning a home. For many with particular lifestyles, other options may be more beneficial. However, homeownership, in its many ups and downs and pros and cons, is something valuable and cherished by many and something millions of people pursue.

We should also take this month as an opportunity to advance resources to assist historically disadvantaged communities. The beauty of homeownership wasn’t accessible to everyone until recently, and even now, minority communities are still targeted by bad actors and practices and are disproportionately hurt during economic downturns.

Right after the push for homeownership in 2002, we experienced a catastrophic housing crash in 2008. During this crash, people of color were disproportionately targeted for harmful loan programs with bad terms, and they felt the impact of this national hit more than anyone, giving their “one foot forward” 100 steps back.

The goal of National Homeownership Month is to celebrate and advance homeownership, but “the opportunity” of National Homeownership Month is to help more people achieve the “American Dream” – the home, the family, something that can grow in value, something they can pass down, a sense of security and safety.