June 27, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

More seniors are mortgage free

The proportion of older homeowners who were mortgage free increased between 1984 and 1997.

Percent of homeowners age 65-to-74 and 75-and-older without mortgages, 1984 and 1997
[Chart data—TXT]

For 65-to-74 year olds the percentage of homeowners who were without a mortgage rose from 59.2 percent in 1984 to 61.0 percent in 1997. Homeowners who were 75 and older are even more likely than the 65-to-74 year olds to be mortgage free: In 1984, 63.7 percent were without a mortgage, and the proportion increased to 66.8 percent in 1997.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Expenditures Surveys program. Read more about expenditures of older consumers in "Expenditure patterns of older Americans, 1984-97," by Geoffrey D. Paulin, Monthly Labor Review, May 2000.