from staff
The number of owner-occupied housing units in metropolitan Jacksonville with a mortgage dropped by 1.2 percent last year compared to 2008 and fell 4.1 percent from 2007.
Still, the majority of homes in the area do carry mortgages.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the share of units with a mortgage fell to 72.8 percent in 2009.
Meanwhile, the number and share of units without a mortgage increased.
Housing was among one of biggest sectors affected by the national recession, which began in December 2007 and was declared over as of June 2009.
The Daily Record has been presenting a series of Jacksonville facts from the U.S. Census Bureau for 2007, 2008 and 2009 for Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties. This is the final report of the series.
| Mortgage status | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Owner-occupied units | 349,454 | 341,562 | 343,017 |
| Housing units with a mortgage | 260,241 | 252,485 | 249,569 |
| Percentage | 74.5% | 73.9% | 72.8% |
| Housing units without a mortgage | 89,213 | 89,077 | 93,448 |
| Percentage | 25.5% | 26.1% | 27.2% |