New statistics just released by the National Association of Realtors show that the number of homeowners in the country has increased by 9.2 million in the last decade.
This means that the U.S. homeownership rate, which has incrementally increased in recent years, made the 65.5% mark.
Demographically, just under 73% of all white Americans now own a home. Asian Americans have seen a dramatic rise of nearly 5% in the last decade to a new high of 62.8%. Equally dramatic, just under 51% of hispanic Americans are homeowners—an increase of more than 4%.
Despite the overall trend line, the rate of black American homeownership, however, is still low at 44%, an increase of less than 1% during the last decade.
In a statement, Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist with NAR, noted that would-be black homebuyers are “more likely to be first-time buyers who are more sensitive to changes in mortgage interest rates, while white buyers are more likely to have housing equity to rely on as they make a housing trade.”
Lautz added that even among successful home buyers, “Black Americans have lower household incomes, which narrows the available pool of inventory they may be able to afford and makes their journey into homeownership even more difficult in this limited housing inventory environment.”
The NAR statistics, as compiled in the association’s report Snapshot of Race and Home Buying in America, also indicates that black homeowners spend a greater amount of their income in the pursuit of owning a home than any other demographic.
In renting, some 30% of black renters are classified as “severely cost-burdened,” which means spending more than 50% of their income on rent. Meanwhile, 22% of white renters were similarly classified.
The NAR study also suggested discriminatory practices among some agents, with fully 50% of hispanic home buyers say they felt they were either steered “toward or away” from specific neighborhoods. That figure was followed by 29% of white home buyers, and 12% for black home buyers. Asian American respondents reported the lowest such discrimination at 1%.
In a press release accompanying the study, the NAR said its members are “active leaders in the fight to close racial homeownership gaps.” The release further notes that the association is a part of the Black Homeownership Collaborative, which has a stated goal of increasing the number of black homeowners by some 3 million in the next seven years.
By Garry Boulard
