The labor participation rate in the United States continues to lag, especially for the youngest potential homebuyers. If it continues to drift downward, as a recent paper by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland suggests, that could push the homeownership rate down to 62.5 percent, and result in an additional 20 percent to 25 percent decline in purchase-mortgage production, according to a recent review by analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “The conclusion we draw from the age breakouts of ...