WASHINGTON – After increasing steadily for more than a decade, the U.S. homeownership rate seems to be slowly going in the other direction. Data released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau put the homeownership rate at 69% in the fourth quarter 2005, down from 69.2% a year earlier. Although the decline is minimal, it is still the third consecutive quarter that the rate has not showed a gain year-over-year. It's also the first time since 1994 that the rate at year-end hasn't increased from the previous year. Economists are speculating on the reason the rate seems to have "plateaued." Some have cited a lack of affordability of homes, still others are pointing to a weak economy. The median price for an existing single-family home was $213,000 in the fourth quarter 2005, up 13.5% from a year earlier. According to the National Association of Realtors, a record 72 of 145 metro areas showed double-digit annual increases in median prices for existing single-family homes. The NAR's affordability index is now 115.8, the lowest level since the third quarter 1991. The U.S. homeownership rate reached a record high of 69.2% in the second quarter 2004, up from 63.8% a decade earlier.