• While white households have remained more likely to own their home than people of color households since 1990, white homeownership has decreased slightly from 74 percent in 2010 to 72 percent in 2020. The overall homeownership rate has also decreased from 67 percent in 2010 to 64 percent in 2020. 
• In 2020, Maine, Minnesota, and West Virginia have the highest homeownership rates among all states. California, District of Columbia, and New York have the lowest rates. Among top 100 cities, Chesapeake City, MD has the highest homeownership rate (72 percent) while Newark, NJ has the lowest rate (24 percent).
• Overall, immigrants are less likely to own their home than their US-born counterparts. The homeownership rates for Asian American immigrants and Black immigrants are on par with their US-born counterparts.
• People with Somali ancestry and Marshallese ancestry are least likely to own their home out of all racial and ethnic groups for every nativity and ancestry breakdown. Just 10 percent of people with Somali ancestry and 3 percent of people with Marshallese ancestry own the home they live in. 

Racial gaps in homeownership have been shaped by a history of racist housing practices like restrictive covenants and mortgage redlining in the mid-20th century. These policies increased homeownership for white Americans and provided them with access to new suburban developments that allowed them to join the middle class and build wealth as their home values grew. Over time, these policies have fueled a racial wealth gap between white households and households of color, especially Black and Latinx households. While the implementation of fair housing laws in the Civil Rights Era increased homeownership for people of color, persistent racial wage disparities and skyrocketing housing costs have continued to hinder homeownership for many workers and families of color. Additionally, many communities of color continue to weather the effects of the 2008 recession and foreclosure crisis when a disproportionate number of Black and Latinx borrowers lost their homes.

• Promote shared equity homeownership models, such as community land trusts, Tenant Opportunity to Purchase policies (TOPA), and limited equity cooperatives.
• Increase public and private investments in home construction that diversify the housing supply and offer affordable homebuyer opportunities, both of which support first-time buyers in finding entry homes.
• Improve access for unbanked and underbanked households to mainstream financial services and asset-building products, like incentivized savings accounts and matched savings accounts.
• Connect prospective homebuyers from marginalized communities to homebuyer and post-purchase counseling services that can help them finance, purchase, and keep their homes.
• Require FDIC insured lenders to offer mortgage products for homebuyers from working-class communities historically neglected by lending institutions, through special purpose credit programs or other tailored investment strategies.
• Invest in down payment assistance programs for low- and moderate-income homebuyers, including people who grew up or live in historically redlined neighborhoods.
• Hire more people of color in the real estate and financial services sectors, and regulate identity-based discrimination in realty and home appraisal services.
• Connect first-time and lower-income homeowners to asset management and estate planning services, so they can build wealth in their homes and pass on that wealth.
• At the state and/or local level, enact a strong homeowner bill of rights to guarantee basic fairness and transparency for homeowners.
• At the federal level, enact a homes guarantee for all people in the United States to have safe, affordable, accessible housing.

• Reports: Reducing the Racial Homeownership Gap; Homeownership, racial segregation, and policy solutions to racial wealth equity; Black Homeownership Increased Slightly during the Pandemic, but High Interest Rates Threaten to Further Widen Racial Homeownership Gaps; The Lasting Racial Stain of the Foreclosure Crisis; For people of color, banks are shutting the door to homeownership; Do Community Land Trusts Improve Resident Outcomes?
• Data: Prosperity Now Scorecard; Access and Affordability Interactive Map; Black Wealth Data Center; Fannie Mae National Housing Survey reports