“I am part of the 4 percent who want to ban the teaching of math. We are a quarter of the country, and we will not be ignored! And that number is growing; soon we will be a fifth of the country!” While we’re being quantitative… Everyone knows that there are 50 stars on the United States Flag. In 1945 there were 48, before Alaska and Hawai’i were granted statehood. Someone should have told the folks who filmed or fact checked “Oppenheimer.” Continuing with numbers, the South or Midwest, which also boast the highest U.S. homeownership rates, are also the regions that have the highest rental vacancies in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancies and Homeownership data. The Midwest had the nation’s highest homeownership rate (70 percent) in the first quarter of 2023, followed by the South (67), Northeast (63) and West (62 percent). A bigger share of homeowners (41.6 percent) than renters (28.7 percent) had a bachelor’s degree or higher. They also earned more money, as median annual household income was $78,000 compared to renters’ $41,000. (Today’s podcast can be found here and sponsored by ReadyPrice, offering the industry’s most powerful universal delivery portal that gives brokers the edge they need. Shop, lock and deliver with multiple lenders, all in one place, for free! Hear an interview with FundingShield’s Ike Suri on the latest wire and title fraud findings.) Lender and Broker Products, Services, and Software Forty-five new agencies began offering DPA last quarter, signaling a sustainable groundswell in programs to support affordable financing. This is according to Down Payment Resource’s Q2 Homeownership Program Index (HPI) report, which dropped yesterday. What’s more, homebuyer assistance agencies are expanding program support of manufactured and multifamily properties to increase options for LMI buyers as inventory figures hover near historic lows. To get a full breakdown of the 2,373 homebuyer assistance programs available today, read DPR’s Q2 HPI report.