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Home ownership Is the order of the day in Rappahannock County. In contrast to the situation in many communities across the country, in the local area a large proportion of families now own the houses in which they live. The ownership rate has been going up in recent years as a growing number of families, who have been living in rented quarters but wanted homes of their own, accumulated the wherewithal to satisfy that desire. The net result, according to the latest finding, isthatappro ximately 65.0 percent of all dwelling units in the area are now owned by their occupants. This compares with 63.4per cent in the rest of the United States and 62.8 percent in the State of Virginia. The extent of the gain that has been made in the last fe\y years may be gleaned from a look at the 1960 Census of Housing. At that time, only 63.4 percent of the dwellings were found to be owner-occupied. The new estimates are based upon the official figures, updated to reflect the changes since 1960. The extent of these changes is brought out on a national basis in studies and surveys made by the Life Insurance Institute, the National Association of Home Huilders and others. The growth of homeowner ship in the last eight years is ascribed to rising family incomes and to the fact that mortgage money has been available at favorable rates during much of that period. More recently,‘Inflation has also been a motivating factor Many people have turned to real estate as a hedge against inflation. Some have traded up, selling their former homes to buy better ones. With regard to modern household conveniences, homes in the local area appear to be well equipped, according to a Department of Commerce survey. The study was based upon the percentages of homes with food freezers, air conditioners, clothes washing machine^ television sets, telephones and automobiles. All six percentages were add ed together to arrive at an “index of home equipment." Rappahannock County is listed with an index of 289 out of a possible maximum of 600. it is a higher rating than is shown for many localities.
75.0%