NEW YORK (AP) -- Homeowners started losing hold of their homes years before spiking foreclosures and the housing slump slammed the economy.Piece by piece, some gave away their homes by tapping equity to take cash out to pay for cars, weddings and vacations. Others never owned one brick. During the country's most recent housing boom, the term "homeowner" became a misnomer as lenders offered 100 percent or more home financing to some buyers.
Now, slipping home prices threaten to further erode the value of many Americans' single largest asset, curbing consumer spending and jeopardizing retirement assets.
Thanks in large part to mortgage-related tax deductions and a drumbeat of advice that everyone should own their home, the U.S. homeownership rate rose steadily in recent decades. It peaked at 69.2 percent in 2004 before backing down to 68.2 percent at the end of the third quarter, according to the Census Bureau, which has collected the data since 1965.
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