You better double check what your census report considers "home ownership".
Unless the home is totally paid off your statistic is a lie.
Let me know what the total percentage is of Americans who are living in homes that are totally paid off.
If you could make our population decrease by half tomorrow...home values would decrease a similar amount, way more people would be living in paid off homes and with that true wealth skyrockets for a greater percentage of the people.
Even though our population has increased massively since 1980...home ownership rates are UNCHANGED.