The ideal of American homeownership may have been tarnished during the recession, as the values of so many homes plummeted and the number of foreclosures across the country soared. But for many Americans, like the Cabreras, the emotional rush of buying a home still represents a significant marker of stability and financial success. Buying often gives families access to safer neighborhoods, better schools, and more services than renting. And, like it or not, homeownership still offers the best way to save money for the majority of Americans by building up equity, especially in this era of dwindling pensions and stagnant wages. "It is a forced saving mechanism, and if you don't have to think about saving, it goes better," says Brett Theodos, a senior research associate at the nonpartisan think tank, the Urban Institute.

That's why economists and policymakers worry so much about the fact that the housing market has yet to fully recover. Credit has become so tight that borrowers who may have enough income to cover their costs, but who do not have perfect credit scores, remain locked out of the market. And, fewer Americans in the aftermath of the global financial recession are creating new households, opting instead to bunk with family and friends.

The overall result has been a dramatic decrease in American homeownership. In 2013, the U.S. homeownership rate fell for the ninth straight year, clocking in at just 65.1 percent, the lowest level since 1995, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard. First-time homebuyers, young people, and minorities participate less and less in the housing market. The big philosophical debate is when, if ever, they'll come back and what that will mean for their wealth over the long-run.

In January, the Federal Housing Administration announced a plan to cut mortgage-insurance premiums in an effort to nudge more buyers into the market, particularly first-time borrowers. The FHA estimates that move will save homeowners roughly $900 annually on their mortgage payments. Even so, this is unlikely to be enough of a salve to boost the entire market.

Even if the rates of homeownership do return to their pre-bubble levels, experts and advocates acknowledge that home buying remains an imperfect crutch to boost wealth. Too many Americans refinanced their homes during the 2000s, pulling out money and using their homes as piggy banks, enough to make housing less of a surefire financial bet. "This is less of a story that homeownership is perfect and more of a story about, 'What other vehicles are out there to help people build wealth over the course of their lifetimes and over generations?'" Theodos says. "Private savings isn't doing it."