A new Trulia report shows that Black homeownership rates improved the most in Washington, D.C. between 1990 and 2015. (Photo by Roberto Westbrook/Blend Images/Getty Images)
The national gap in homeownership rates between all households and Black and Latino households has largely remained the same since 1970 — until now.
A recent report reviewing progress in nationwide homeownership rates by online real estate site Trulia revealed that the Washington D.C. area took the top spot for the largest increase in Black homeownership between 1990 and 2015, boasting a 9.6-percent rise, according to The Washington Post.
Homeownership among Latinos also saw a 10-percent increase during that same time period. The District now ranks fifth nationally for its progress in Latino homeownership.
In addition to the D.C. area, homeownership for Black households increased significantly in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic cities like Peabody, Mass., (9.3 points) and Fairfield County, Conn. (9.3 points), the Trulia report showed. Rust Belt cities like Troy, Mich., Grand Rapids, Mich., and Akron, Ohio, topped the list of metropolitan cities where Black homeownership decreased the most.
Using U.S. Census Bureau data, researchers investigated how housing opportunities have changed for underrepresented groups nationwide and in the U.S.’s 100 largest cities. The report examined factors impacting housing opportunity, including homeownership rates, residential segregation and affordability, to see how such opportunities have shifted for African-Americans and Latinos.
Ownership rates across all groups have remained relatively flat in recent years, but it was the housing crisis that stifled people’s ability to purchase a home. Homeownership among African-Americans took a particularly hard hit, declining significantly between 2000 and 2010, according to the report.
Other key findings of the Trulia report include:
- The share of households that are rent burdened — spend 30 percent or more of their income on rent — increased after the housing crisis. More than 55 percent of Black and Latino households are rent burdened compared to 47 percent of all households.
- Latino households saw double-digit increases in homeownership in Chicago (13.0 points), Hartford, Conn., (11.7 points) and Houston (11.7 points).
- Residential Black-white segregation decreased in 94 of the largest 100 metros from 1980 to 2015, improving the most in the Florida metros of Fort Lauderdale, Sarasota and Cape Coral.
