Report: more than 73% of homeowners are white, compared to 43% of blacks
Before the great recession, lawmakers and lenders were very generous when aspiring homeowners, particularly those of color sought loans for their new homes.
Now, it is far more difficult for those with modest means, or anyone with a less than desirable credit score to buy a home. The barriers to home ownership are so high, that just 43 percent of African-Americans own their own home.
In 2007 alone, more than 930,000 people earning less than $50,000 got mortgages, according to data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The subprime market spawned mortgages that didn’t even require borrowers to verify their incomes, and lenders deliberately targeted African-Americans and other minorities. […]
Black and Hispanic homeowners suffered disproportionate losses in the 2008 housing crisis, as predatory lending wiped out what few assets they had. But in the midst of the recovery, they’re dealing with a second crisis: The fear of another housing bubble could now keep them from getting a loan.
Forty-three percent of African-Americans now own their own homes, according to the Census Bureau, down from 49% in 2004; it’s now at the lowest level since 1995.
Forty-six percent of Hispanics in the nation own their own homes. By comparison, 73 percent of white Americans currently own homes.
The racial wealth gap has also increased. According to the Pew Research Center, the median white household has twenty times the wealth of a black household.
A 2013 survey found that 76 percent of Americans believe that being able to own your own home is necessary to be considered middle class.
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