Racial Divide in American Homeownership Widest in a Decade

More Americans own homes today, but the gap in homeownership between Black and white people is at its widest in 10 years.

The National Association of Realtors reported that 65.5 percent of Americans owned homes in 2021 versus 64.7 percent in 2011, but just 44 percent of the latest number of homeowners are Black, compared to white Americans who made up more than 72 percent.

"Unfortunately, the incredible affordability challenges of the last year have hit minority home buyers more than white buyers," said Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research, in a press release.

At the same time, Black Americans who were able to purchase homes, spent more of their income on acquiring them than any other racial group, and 30 percent of them reported the cost being burdensome. 

"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 to homeownership even more difficult in this limited housing inventory environment," Lautz added.

The report also showed that Black and Hispanic consumers faced more scrutiny from banks, with prospective Black homebuyers having the highest denial rates for both new purchases and refinancing options.

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