The U.S. housing market is making a strong recovery, but the housing crash may have left some permanent marks on the industry, according to a new report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University.

The State of the Nation’s Housing report, compiled annually by the JCHS, found that housing construction finally turned the corner in 2012, giving the economy a much-needed boost. Much of the new construction, however, has been in the multi-family sector, with 2012 the second consecutive year of double-digit percentage increases in multifamily construction. That boost was driven by a 1.1 million increase in renter households.

But the flip side of the strong rental market was the continued slide of homeownership rates, the report’s authors noted.

"Even as historically low interest rates have helped make the monthly cost of owning a home more favorable than any time in the past 40 years, the national homeownership rate fell for the eighth straight year in 2012," Eric S. Belsky, managing director of the JCHS, said in a statement. "The drop was especially pronounced for 25 to 54 year olds, whose homeownership rates were at their lowest point since recordkeeping began in 1976."

"Tight credit is limiting the ability of would-be homebuyers to take advantage of today’s affordable conditions and likely discouraging many from even trying," Chris Herbert, director of research at the JCHS, said in a statement. "At issue is whether, and at what cost, mortgage financing will be available to borrowers across a broad spectrum of incomes, wealth and credit histories moving forward."

The study’s authors warned that even as the housing market is beginning to pick up, housing is becoming less affordable for many Americans. The number of Americans shelling out half or more of their incomes on housing is at an all-time high, with 20.6 million households shouldering such severe housing cost burdens. But, the report notes, even as the need has never been greater, federal budget sequestration will pare down the number of households receiving rental housing assistance.

But, overall, there are positive signs on the horizon.

"With rising home prices helping to revive household balance sheets and expanding residential construction adding to job growth, the housing sector is finally providing a much needed boost to the economy," Belsky said in a statement.