February 2, 2024
Categories: Affordable Housing, Fair Housing, First Time Buyer, Homeownership
February is National Black History Month, which celebrates the achievements of African Americans and recognizes their central role in American History. As we celebrate the contributions of our Black and African American neighbors, we want to recognize and call attention to the disparities that still exist, particularly regarding homeownership.
According to recent data from the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), while the U.S. homeownership rate continually increased during the past decade, the Black homeownership rate has not kept pace. As a result, the homeownership gap between White and Black home buyers is now the largest it's been in a decade. In Texas, 70% of White households currently own their home, compared to only 41% of Black households.
The NAR report attributes the racial homeownership gap to several factors, including racial disparities in both mortgage approval rates and housing affordability. For example, while the median income for Black renter households is nearly 30% less than White renter households, their monthly rent isn't significantly cheaper. This makes it more difficult for Black households to save for the down payment required to purchase a home.
At TSAHC, ensuring that all Texans can access the advantages of homeownership, regardless of their race or ethnicity, is central to our mission. Our programs provide down payment assistance for up to 5% of the loan amount, which helps close the affordability gap by covering all or part of the required down payment. Click here to learn more about our programs.
We are also making significant efforts to communicate our programs to diverse audiences by translating our marketing and educational materials into Spanish and providing training and grant opportunities to home buyer education providers serving communities of color.
And data shows that our efforts are working. In 2023, approximately 58% of home buyers utilizing TSAHC's program identified as a person of color, up from 52% in 2019.
However, we know there is still significant work to be done, and we know we cannot do it alone. To that end, in 2023 we joined forces with the Harris County Homeownership Collaborative to launch Own the HOU. This campaign aims to create 5,000 new BIPOC homeowners in Harris County, one of the Texas counties experiencing the greatest racial homeownership disparities. Together, participating agencies have helped more than 1,800 BIPOC households purchase a home to date.
For more information on TSAHC's efforts to close the racial homeownership gap, we recommend the following blog posts:
https://www.tsahc.org/blog/post/addressing-the-racial-homeownership-gap-in-harris-county
https://www.tsahc.org/blog/post/new-resources-to-better-serve-spanish-speaking-home-buyers
On the House blog posts are meant to provide general information on various housing-related issues, research and programs. We are not liable for any errors or inaccuracies in the information provided by blog sources. Furthermore, this blog is not legal advice and should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney.
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