Statistics are frightening. Every eighth house in the United States is standing empty waiting for a buyer. Real estate prices are falling, while the number of people living inside their own four walls has been declining for the past couple of years. Is that the end of the American Dream that promised home ownership?

 Maybe, indeed, we are witnessing the reversal of the long time trend when people strove to buy homes and apartments instead of renting them. Or maybe it is just another instance of the market choking.

 This spring, a time when real estate market usually bounces back, is rather quiet. Sales indexes are still depressing and the average house price is down to 2003 levels. Statistics on new construction are the worst since World War II. And more and more homes are waiting for buyers, most these put up for sale by banks after their owners lost them to the bad economy.

 At the same time the number of rental vacancies dwindles. The last time we saw such shortage of vacant rental space was eight years ago, when the entire real estate market began swelling dangerously.

 Multiple apartment houses are the only type of real estate which is now gaining value.

These days, 66.4 percent Americans, 3 percent fewer than three years ago, own their homes. In the recent economic downturn, which has lingered for almost five years now, millions of people lost their homes not being able to pay their high mortgage rates on time. That's why we have what we have now.

 According to polls, most Americans still believe that possessing a house is part of the American Dream. Yet, 90 percent of homeowners declare that they will buy another house, including people whose homes have lost value as a result of the economy.

 However, an increasing number of young people admit that buying a home is not always a good investment and involves too much risk. Besides, it often hampers mobility and becomes a burden if one has to move quickly in pursuit of a job. It is impossible to sell a house in a timely manner these days and be able to move to the other end of the country.

 This may be another sign of the times and an argument for renting instead of buying and paying off a mortgage.

 Luckily, the majority (63 percent) of Americans believe that the current real estate crisis will come to end sometime, that the market will become fluid and prices of homes will start going up again.