Daniel Fetter observes that despite severe restrictions on new construction, the U.S. homeownership rate rose by 10 percentage points between 1940 and 1945. This five year period accounted for half of the increase in homeownership during the twentieth century. He studies the effect of rent control in contributing to this rise in homeownership by comparing the changes in homeownership rates in different cities that had differentially-stringent rent control regimes. The findings suggest that rent control may explain 65 percent of the increase in urban home ownership during the early 1940's.