Black residents in California trail in homeownership, mortgage approvals (2024)

FAQs

What is the black homeownership rate in California? ›

In 2021, the homeownership rate among Black households in California was 35.6% — two and a half percentage points more than it was in 2016. However, the overall homeownership rate in California is 55%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

While the U.S. homeownership rate increased to 65.5% in 2021, the rate among Black Americans lags significantly (44%), has only increased 0.4% in the last 10 years and is nearly 29 percentage points less than White Americans (72.7%), representing the largest Black-White homeownership rate gap in a decade.

Historical discrimination through exclusionary housing policies and practices, plus a dwindling supply of housing and a variety of other factors have limited Black families from purchasing homes at the same rate as their White counterparts.

The Black homeownership rate was even more worrisome at 36.8%, or 26.4 points below the rate for white households. However, Latino and Black households also saw large gains in homeownership between 2014 and 2019 (2.2 and 2.3 percentage points, respectively).

However, the racial homeownership gap is most striking for Black households. At just 41.7 percent, Black households have the lowest homeownership rate nationally—30.0 percentage points lower than white households.

Owner-occupied homes in African-American neighborhoods are undervalued by $48,000 per home, on average, compared with comparable homes in other neighborhoods, which translates to a cumulative loss of $156 billion in potential wealth accumulation, a report from the Brookings Institution and Gallup finds.

The homeownership rate for White Americans in 2021 was 72.7%, but the rate for Black Americans was 44%, according to NAR's analysis of the most recent data. The homeownership rate for Asian Americans was 62.8% and for Hispanic Americans it was 50.6%.

Using self-reported census valuations, a home in a neighborhood that is 50% Black is valued 23% lower than a home in a neighborhood with no Black residents.

The median household income for Black U.S. households in 2021 is $46,400, which means half of households headed by a Black person earn more than that and half earn less. Broader analysis shows that 52% of Black U.S. households earn less than $50,000, while 48% make $50,000 or more.

What is the average earnings for a Black home? ›

2021: The median income for Black households was $48,297, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

More than one of every seven households spends at least half of its income just to have a place to live, the study found. In California the problem is even worse, with upwards of 40 percent of households classified as “cost burdened,” that is, spending over the 30 percent income threshold.

Hispanics (of any race) are the largest single ethnic group in the state.

No race or ethnic group constitutes a majority of California's population: 39% of Californians are Latino, 35% are white, 15% are Asian American or Pacific Islander, 5% are Black, 4% are multiracial, and fewer than 1% are Native American or Alaska Natives, according to the 2020 Census.

While Black Californians make up roughly 5% of the state's population, they comprised over 1 in 4 unhoused people who made contact with a homelessness service provider in the 2021-22 fiscal year.

In terms of broad ethnic groups, Black Americans have consistently had the lowest median income in the given years, while Asian Americans have the highest; median income in Asian American households has typically been around double that of Black Americans.

Profile of Low-Income Families (Figure 1)

Most of these families are racial or ethnic minorities. Four million low-income families (or 30 percent of the total) are Hispanic, 2.9 million (22 percent) are black or African American, and about 800,000 (6 percent) are other nonwhites.

Yet no-mortgage owners in California are only 33% of all homeowners – and only four places have a smaller share: D.C. at 24%, Maryland at 28% and Colorado and Utah at 30%.

A 2021 study by Freddie Mac found that Black and Latino homeowners are about twice as likely as whites to get low appraisals. According to the report, 12.5% of the properties in predominantly Black census tract areas receive appraisal value lower than contract price.

Devaluation is defined as the percent discount in median home values between neighborhoods with 50% Black population and neighborhoods with no Black residents, after accounting for structural characteristics of homes and neighborhood amenities.

What are black neighborhoods called? ›

Due to segregated conditions and widespread poverty, some black neighborhoods in the United States have been called "the ghetto" or "the projects." The use of this term is controversial and, depending on the context, potentially offensive.

Single women own roughly 10.7 million homes, compared to 8.1 million for single men, according to a recent analysis from LendingTree that looked at 2021 Census data.

WASHINGTON (March 28, 2023) – The share of baby boomers has surpassed millennials and now makes up the largest generation of home buyers, according to the latest study from the National Association of Realtors®.

Using 2019 ACS data, we calculate that the white homeownership rate is 30 percentage points higher than the Black homeownership rate (72.2%-42.3%), and white households are 71 percent ((72.2%-42.3%)/42.3%) more likely to own their homes than Black households.

History: View Park–Windsor Hills is one of the richest Black communities in the U.S. and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is also producer-actor Issa Rae's hometown and the inspiration for her HBO drama Insecure, about Black L.A. single life.

There are other counties where the typical Black household earns more: The highest-income Black families in the nation actually live on the western edge of the D.C. metro area in Virginia's Loudoun County, which is also home to the highest incomes overall.

White, 41, has been a certified appraiser for 20 years. She estimates that of 75,000 appraisers in the United States, she's one of about 300 Black women actively working in the industry.

Renegotiate The Offer

Start by requesting the seller to lower the price to the appraised value. This would eliminate the appraisal gap and your roadblock to buying the home. If the seller is unwilling to lower the price to meet the appraised value, ask them to split the difference.

“Appraisal gap coverage is an interim step you can take between having an appraisal contingency and waiving it,” says Phillips. “An appraisal gap coverage clause is custom wording in the purchase contract that says you will pay the difference between the appraised value and the contract price, up to a certain amount.”

How much income do you need to buy a $650000 house? ›

To determine whether you can afford a $650,000 home you will need to consider the following 4 factors. Based on the current average for a down payment, and the current U.S. average interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage you would need to be earning $126,479 per year before taxes to be able to afford a $650,000 home.

How much do I need to make to buy a $300K house? To purchase a $300K house, you may need to make between $50,000 and $74,500 a year. This is a rule of thumb, and the specific salary will vary depending on your credit score, debt-to-income ratio, type of home loan, loan term, and mortgage rate.

If you're an aspiring homeowner, you may be asking yourself, “I make $70,000 a year: how much house can I afford?” If you make $70K a year, you can likely afford a home between $290,000 and $360,000*. That's a monthly house payment between $2,000 and $2,500 a month, depending on your personal finances.

Texas has the highest Black population in the United States of 3,936,669, about 14% of Texas's total population.

African Americans, who in many categories have the greatest gender economic equality, have the greatest gender wealth disparity though still having little wealth compared to Whites. Single Black men's median wealth was $10,100, compared to Single Black women's median wealth of $1,700.

According to worldpopulationreview.com, Hawaii is the most expensive state to live in, with its housing costing three times the national average. New York and California rank as the second and third most expensive states in which to live, respectively.

Housing affordability has declined over the last three decades; as of 2018, less than a third of Californians could afford a median-priced home; in job centers such as the San Francisco Bay Area, that number is less than a quarter.

The Most Overvalued MSA to Rent a Home

The Riverside-San Bernardino MSA is ranked as the most overvalued region to rent a home because its rental rates have risen faster than local incomes.

Black Californians lag behind other groups in college graduation, home ownership, and income. Today, California's Black community is geographically concentrated, with most Black Californians living in Los Angeles, the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, and Sacramento.

Is California still losing population? ›

In 2021, it was big news — the “California exodus.” Now, it just looks like the new trend: California's population is still shrinking. According to the latest population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, California's total population declined by more than 500,000 between April 2020 and July 2022.

Hawaii has the highest racial and ethnic diversity, which is 3.1 times higher than in Maine, the state with the lowest. California has the highest language diversity, which is 2.3 times higher than in West Virginia, the state with the lowest.

Mexican American is the largest ethnicity in half the state's 58 counties. By ethnicity, 38.1% of the total population is Hispanic (of any race).

As of 2021, White Americans are the racial majority, with non-Hispanic whites representing 59.3% of the population. Hispanic and Latino Americans are the largest ethnic minority, comprising 18.9% of the population, while Black Americans are the largest racial and the second largest ethnic minority, making up 12.6%.

In 2022, Los Angeles had the nation's largest homeless population. About 582,000 Americans are experiencing homelessness, according to 2022 Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) data.

Black or African American: 9.8% Two or more races: 2.8% Native American: 0.5% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.2%

Poverty. Low wages. Mental illness and the lack of needed services (Single adult individuals)

The state's homeownership rate for people aged 25 to 75 dropped to 43.5% in 2021, down from nearly 50% in 2000, the paper found. By comparison, homeownership in the rest of the United States is nearly 60%.

California's 55.3% average homeownership rate in 2022 was the state's best since 2011 – but only Washington, D.C., at 42% and New York at 54% were lower. The highest ownership rates in 2022 were found in West Virginia at 79%, then Wyoming at 75%, Minnesota at 75%, Maine at 75% and Delaware at 75%.

What is the percentage of homeownership by race? ›

The homeownership rate for White Americans in 2021 was 72.7%, but the rate for Black Americans was 44%, according to NAR's analysis of the most recent data. The homeownership rate for Asian Americans was 62.8% and for Hispanic Americans it was 50.6%.

Across all public housing, about 45% of residents are black while another third (32%) are white and a little over 20% are Hispanic.

Californians for Homeownership is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to address California's housing crisis by enforcing these laws and fighting unlawful policies that limit access to housing affordable for families at all income levels.

After California comes New York at 1.7 million and Pennsylvania at 1.5 million. Yet no-mortgage owners in California are only 33% of all homeowners – and only four places have a smaller share: D.C. at 24%, Maryland at 28% and Colorado and Utah at 30%.

Despite headlines about huge numbers of Californians fleeing to other states in search of a cheaper life, home prices remain stubbornly high in California. In San Francisco, for example, the average home price is over $1.2 million, according to Zillow. That's close to four times the average U.S. home value.

Only about 7 million of California's roughly 40 million residents own their homes, the lowest rate of home ownership in the United States, according to a new study. The study, conducted by Ruby Home Luxury Real Estate, analyzed U.S. Census data to determine the rate of home ownership across the country.

Lightly populated Alpine County has the state's highest homeownership rate (80%), while San Francisco County has the lowest (38%). Among the state's largest cities (those with at least 100,000 housing units), homeownership rates range from 37% in Los Angeles to 59% in Bakersfield.

California's overall property taxes are below the national average. The average effective property tax rate in California is 0.71%, compared to the national rate, which sits at 0.99%. Not in California?

In 2019, the homeownership rate among white non-Hispanic Americans was 73.3%, compared to 42.1% among Black Americans. This 31.2 percentage point difference was the largest gap since the Census' time series began in 1994.

Homeowner rates by race and ethnicity

Homeownership statistics by race show that the highest rates of homeownership are held by White households.

What race has the most single households? ›

In 2017-21, the share of families headed by single parents was 76% among African American families, 59% among Hispanic families, 39% among white families and 31% among Asian families.

The average net worth among Black households rose to more than $340,000 through the third quarter of last year from the end of 2019, marking an increase of 32% over just 11 quarters, according to research from Wells Fargo using data from the Federal Reserve Board.

With more than 180,000 public housing units, the New York City Housing Authority is by far the nation's largest public housing authority (PHA).

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America.