“Once they are ready to buy, Hispanic and Black Americans have a higher rate of loan denials in the mortgage market,” Lautz said. In 2012 the median income of Black Americans was $21,540 less than White Americans by 2022 it was $27,840 less. And, like the homeownership gap, the income gap has worsened over the past decade. Plus, the median household income for Black Americans was $47,800 in 2022, while the median income for White Americans was $75,700. Nearly half of Black homebuyers reported owing an average of $46,000 in student debt, the most among racial groups. “Even among successful home buyers, minorities have a higher amount of student debt - the biggest expense that holds back saving, along with rent,” said Lautz. This is amplified among minority groups who also face additional systemic barriers and disparities in income and wealth, the NAR report found. It is hard for these would-be homebuyers to save up a down payment when an estimated half of all tenants in the US have a rent that is unaffordable, meaning they pay more 30% of their income toward housing, according to a recent study from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. She said more than half are first-time buyers who must come up with a down payment and don’t have the sale of an existing home to rely on. “The impacts of housing affordability and limited inventory are more extreme for minority buyers,” explained Lautz. That is largely due to the most unaffordable housing market in a generation putting homeownership out of reach for many Americans, especially minority homebuyers. Over the past decade, the US homeownership rate has increased, with the US gaining an estimated 10.5 million homeowners, according to NAR.īut, for the first time since 2015, the total homeownership rate actually decreased between 20. “While the gains should be celebrated, the pathway into homeownership remains arduous for minority buyers.” What’s contributing to the racial homeownership gap “Minority homeownership gained ground this year, with Asian and Hispanic homeownership hitting record highs,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research, in a statement. Other states with high Black homeownership rates include South Carolina and Delaware, each at 55%.
In states across the country the Black homeownership rate ranged from 19% in Wyoming and North Dakota (two states where the share of Black residents is under 3%) to 57% in Mississippi (a state with a much higher share of Black residents, at 37%). The Hispanic homeownership rate of 51.1% was also a record high for that group.Īlso see: California’s down payment assistance lottery reopens for first-time homebuyers The Asian homeownership rate reached a record high of 63% in 2022. Meanwhile, homeownership rates for other minority groups have substantially increased. The US Census Bureau’s definition of homeownership is the percentage of homes that are owned by their occupants.
More on housing: Why some renters won’t buy homes, even as mortgage rates fall Over the past decade, the gap between the two groups’ homeownership rates has worsened, expanding from 27 points to 28 points. A stubborn racial homeownership gapĮven with some improvement in the Black homeownership rate, the change has done little to close the yawning gap between Black and White homeownership. The Black homeownership rate saw a modest annual uptick to 44.1% in 2022 from 44% in 2021, but remains significantly behind the White homeownership rate of 72%, the report found. While homeownership rates among all minority groups have increased recently, Black homeownership still lags the furthest behind the White homeownership rate, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors using data from 2022, the most recent American Community Survey from the US Census Bureau. Related: Housing affordability near record low hits Black buyers particularly hard That is wealth we wouldn’t have had if they had rented.” When they pass, it comes to me and my sisters. “The Brooklyn brownstone my parents bought is now worth over $2 million. “I know that’s how we create generational wealth,” White-Jenkins said. The equity in the home she bought in 2018 has helped her have the money to send her son to college and to consider launching a business.Īlso see: Is the housing market going to crash? What the experts are saying White-Jenkins, now a disabled veteran, knows well the wealth-generating power of homeownership. “Homeownership in our family is like getting your driver’s license: You just do it,” she said. She’s part of a line of homeowners that goes back to her grandparents, who purchased a home on the Virginia plantation land where the family had worked as slaves. Sharan White-Jenkins is a proud Black homeowner in Jamaica, Queens, in New York City.