NEW YORK (TheStreet)–Home ownership is likely to continue falling in the U.S., as the government continues to withdraw its support for mortgage lending, argues a report Monday from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

The report points to four recent examples of policy shifts by the government showing declining support for home ownership. These include an increasingly aggressive stance by government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in asking banks to repurchase bad loans they sold to the GSEs and a phasing out of savings and loans. The analysts also point to tougher capital requirements that effectively make it more expensive for banks to underwrite mortgages, as well as a stated desire by both the Obama Administration and Republicans to eventually wind down the GSEs.

“While government lending programs are supporting the current mortgage market, those programs are under increasing pressure to scale back and are acting to limit mortgage credit availability,” the report states. It notes that U.S. mortgage originations are roughly where they were in 1998, though with the government nowplaying a much bigger role in propping up the market. …

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