More Americans Own Their Homes, but Black-White Homeownership Rate Gap is Biggest in a Decade, NAR Report Finds (2024)

FAQs

More Americans Own Their Homes, but Black-White Homeownership Rate Gap is Biggest in a Decade, NAR Report Finds? ›

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.

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%.

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.

According to Center tabulations of the American Community Survey, fully 71.7 percent of white households owned their homes in the US in 2015–2019 compared to 47.0 percent of households of color, representing a 24.6 percentage point racial homeownership gap.

For millennials, the gap in homeownership rates between college graduates and high school–graduates has grown significantly compared with previous generations. The difference in the homeownership rate between the two groups increased from 3 to 10 percentage points between 1990 and 2015.

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.

Homeowner rates by race and ethnicity

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

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%.

Details. In California, 36.2% of Black residents own their homes. That's the 28th best rate among all the states. South Carolina was the top state for Black homeownership at 52.5%, followed by Maryland at 51.7% and Mississippi at 51%.

Popular in Multiple Cultures

Black houses expand across many cultures. In fact, this house color has been popular in Japan for years. Though it is a new trend in the USA, it has been a tried and tested paint color for many other culture types.

What is the homeownership rate by race ethnicity? ›

Homeownership. The benefits from homeownership have not been shared equally. In the second quarter of 2022, the homeownership rate for white households was 75 percent compared to 45 percent for Black households, 48 percent for Hispanic households, and 57 percent for non-Hispanic households of any other race.

64% of Americans own real estate. 35% of the American population does not own their own homes. Homeownership rates have increased to nearly 65% in the US since the 1940s.

Top Home Ownership Statistics In America: 65.8% of Americans own a home as of 2022. Some 74 million Americans, or about 27%, live in a condo or HOA property. 58.4 percent of the housing units were owner-occupied.

Key Takeaways. Millennials are not buying homes as readily as the previous generation. Delaying marriage and having children is keeping many Millennials at home with their parents. Tighter lending criteria can also make homeownership unaffordable or virtually impossible for those without much credit history.

Millennials, along with the oldest Gen Zers and youngest Gen Xers, made up the lion's share of home purchasers last year. People aged 25 to 34 bought one in three (33%) of primary homes that sold in the U.S. last year, the highest share of any age group.

Millennials are more racially and ethnically diverse than Baby Boomers, with larger proportions of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Other racial categories. In 1980, 79% of Baby Boomers were White compared to 57% of Millennials in 2015.

But even with the improvement, the racial wealth gap is still staggering: Black Americans' net worth is 70% below that of non-Black households. “There's been progress directionally, but there's still a huge gap,” Jay Bryson, chief economist at Wells Fargo, said in an interview.

In 2021, the rate of home ownership among white people living in the United States was 74.1 percent.

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 2022 Land Report 100, compiled each year by The Land Report magazine, released its annual list of landowners who own the most acres in the United States. The nation's largest private landowners are the Emmerson family in California who own over 2.4 million acres.

What race owns the most businesses? ›

As has long been the case, White Americans accounted for a large majority (86%) of firms whose ownership was classifiable by race and ethnicity in 2020. These firms brought in 93% of all revenue from classifiable companies that year.

The overwhelming majority of millionaires own real estate, making it by far the most popular alternative asset class. That includes their own home, second homes, investment properties, and fractional ownership of investment properties through partners or programs like Arrived Homes and Roofstock One.

57.6% of black children, 31.2% of Hispanic children, and 20.7% of white children are living absent their biological fathers.

70% of the Indian-American population in America holds a bachelor's degree. Harsh Goenka has explained why Indians are the highest-earning ethnic group in the USA. The chairman of RPG Enterprises shared a chart that shows Indian Americans having the highest median household income in the country.

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

Today about 6 percent of real estate agents and brokers in the United States are Black, though 14 percent of Americans are Black.

A black house may also fade unevenly—if the south side of the house is exposed to constant harsh sun rays, it could fade quicker than other sides, making the exterior look uneven.

The color of your home is directly related to the amount of heat absorption. According to the Department of Energy's (DOE) Cooling Your Home Naturally report, dark, dull colors can absorb 70 to 90 percent of the sun's radiant energy, which can then be transferred into the home.

Once your home absorbs that energy, it transfers most of it as heat inside via conduction. So, yes, dark paint makes a house warmer while brighter and lighter colors will reflect more energy for less of an impact on the interior temperature.

What gender buys more houses? ›

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.

While the poverty rate for the population as a whole is 11.6% the rate varies greatly by race. Blacks have the highest poverty rate at 19.5% and Non-Hispanic whites have the lowest at 8.1%. The Poverty rate for Blacks and Hispanics is more than double that of non-Hispanic Whites.

By race, the highest national poverty rates were for American Indians and Alaska Natives (27.0 percent) and Blacks or African Americans (25.8 percent). Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders had a national poverty rate of 17.6 percent.

Nationwide, about 27.4% of homeowners — or more than a quarter — fall into the “house poor” category, according to the data. “Overall, 21% of cost-burdened homeowners have a household income of less than $75,000,” the report states.

Fewer than one quarter of American households live debt-free.

Not enough homes to buy

For a growing number of people, however, the dream of homeownership remains far out of reach. Inventory is near record lows and the number of sales at the more affordable end of the market is lower than last year because demand is totally outstripping supply.

Often, a bank owns the home they live in — most of it, anyway. Still, Americans have a lot of real money tied up in their homes — on average, $150,506, according to a new report by the Urban Institute called “How Much House Do Americans Really own? Measuring America's Accessible Housing Wealth by Geography and Age.”

During the 1940-1960 period, the homeownership rate rose by over 18 percentage points, from 43.6 to 61.9 percent.

In fact, the average person will own at least three houses in their lifetime. Living in one place for most of your life may or may not be your goal, but if it is, there are things you must do as a homeowner to ensure your home lasts as long as you'd like it to.

Of the Gen Zers surveyed, income was the biggest challenge of buying a home, with 23.3% reporting it as holding them back from homeownership. Among other reasons, 14.6% of Gen Z reported home prices as their biggest challenge and 11.9% reported their current savings amount as a roadblock to buying a home.

Will Gen Z ever be able to afford a house? ›

Gen Z's Future in Real Estate Is Uncertain

Any generation's ability to own a home ultimately comes down to whether they can afford a down payment plus closing costs, qualify for a mortgage and handle the responsibility and costs that come along with owning a home,” said Scott Krinsky, partner at Romer Debbas, LLP.

Half the older adults in our sample (bought their first house when they were between 25 and 34 years old, and 27 percent bought their first home before age 25 (figure 1). But only 37 percent of household heads ages 25 to 34 and 13 percent of those ages 18 to 24 owned a home in 2016.

The Greatest Generation commonly refers to those Americans who were born in the 1900s through the 1920s. The Greatest Generation members all lived through the Great Depression and many of them fought in World War II. These individuals have often been described as driven, patriotic, and team-players.

Approximately 85 percent of baby boomers surveyed indicated they are not planning to sell their home in the next year. The main reason, according to the survey, is that their current home meets the needs of their family. “Aging in place” is not a foreign concept to the housing market.

Millionaire LA homeowners are going out of their way to dramatically drop the prices of some multi-million dollar listings in a bid to avoid a new 'mansion tax. '

Baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—have brought both challenges and opportunities to the economy, infrastructure, and institutions as they have passed through each major stage of life.

The U.S. birthrate is at its lowest since the 1970s, and that's because more American millennials and Gen Z are deciding not to have kids than previous generations.

What is the average net worth of a Baby Boomer? The average net worth of a Baby Boomer in the United States is around $1.2 million.

The decline in homeownership halted between: 2012 and 2016 for householders with less than a high school education (19.9% to 20.8%). 2016 and 2018 for those with a high school degree (30.8% to 31.4%).

These include, in no particular order, technological change, globalization, the decline of unions and the eroding value of the minimum wage. Whatever the causes, the uninterrupted increase in inequality since 1980 has caused concern among members of the public, researchers, policymakers and politicians.

Why is the percent of millennials that own a home lower than it was in previous generations? ›

While those born between 1981 and 1996 are within traditional home-buying ages, factors such as higher education levels, increased rent prices, and more densely packed cities have all contributed to the slower rate of home purchases for this generation.

Homeownership. The benefits from homeownership have not been shared equally. In the second quarter of 2022, the homeownership rate for white households was 75 percent compared to 45 percent for Black households, 48 percent for Hispanic households, and 57 percent for non-Hispanic households of any other race.

John Malone is the largest private landowner in the United States. Malone made his fortune as a media tycoon, building the company Tele-Communications, Inc, or TCI, and acting as its CEO before selling it to AT&T for $50 billion in 1999.

64% of Americans own real estate. 35% of the American population does not own their own homes.

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%.

According to Credit Suisse, individuals with more than $1 million in wealth sit in the top 1 percent bracket. The billionaire class is $2.6 trillion richer than before the pandemic, even if billionaire fortunes slightly fell in 2022 after their record-smashing peak in 2021.

Immigration – Relatively high levels of immigration of less-skilled workers since 1965 may have reduced wages for American-born high school dropouts. Decline of unions – Unions helped increase wages, benefits and working conditions.

Millennials, aged 27 to 42, make up the biggest group citing affordability as one of the key issues that's preventing them from buying a home. Older millennials, between 34 and 42, were the biggest group that cited the inability to afford the down payment or closing costs as a major reason why they don't own a home.

Key Takeaways. Millennials are not buying homes as readily as the previous generation. Delaying marriage and having children is keeping many Millennials at home with their parents. Tighter lending criteria can also make homeownership unaffordable or virtually impossible for those without much credit history.

Their higher net worth is expected: with most baby boomers financially planning for at least a few more decades, they benefit from wealth earned from long careers and have more robust retirement accounts than the silent generation, who have dipped further into retirement savings.

Who is most affected by the housing crisis? ›

Low-Income Households Are Particularly Affected by Unaffordable Housing. Households with the lowest incomes are by far the most likely to have housing costs that are unaffordable.

Home Ownership Rate in the United States averaged 65.26 percent from 1965 until 2023, reaching an all time high of 69.20 percent in the second quarter of 2004 and a record low of 62.90 percent in the second quarter of 1965.

○ Gen Xers continue to be the most racially diverse group of buyers in 2021. Twenty-three percent of this group of buyers identified as Hispanic / Latino, Black / African American, or Asian / Pacific Islander.