NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — There is some encouraging news about who is buying homes.
Research from the National Association of Realtors finds homeownership for minorities increased in 2022, especially for Asian and Hispanic Americans. However, the research also found that Black Americans are buying homes at a lower rate compared to other groups.
The study found Hispanic home ownership rose to over 51 percent and Asian home ownership increased to over 63 percent — which is an all time high for both groups.
Black home ownership had a more slight uptick to a little over 44 percent.
The research points to Black Americans having higher amounts of student loan debt and being more likely to have a single income, which are both barriers to home ownership.
The Black and white home ownership gap is higher now than a decade ago with a difference of 28 percent.
The association said there are some things that could help close the gap.
"The other thing we know is really important is for communities to tackle is the lack of housing inventory, especially affordable housing inventory. So thinking about ways that we can bring in new inventory, especially at affordable price points, and perhaps even smaller units where single individuals and families that don't have children can live," said Jessica Lautz with the National Association of Realtors.
There are programs that can help home buyers find homes with a lower down payment or help with other costs, such as theBlack Home ownership Collaborative.Their goal is to have 3 million new Black homeowners by the end of 2030.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
