HousingWireHousingWire
While the white homeownership rate still leads all racial groups in the U.S., Black homeowners have had some significant gains recently.
The Black homeownership rate saw the largest year-over-year increase of all racial groups in 2023, according to data released Monday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). But this growth was also hampered by consistent challenges.
NAR’s 2025 Snapshot of Race and Home Buying in America explores how racial demographics, affordable housing availability and access to financing can shape trends in the U.S. housing market.
“This report provides the housing ecosystem with in-depth information about how racial and ethnic groups approach the housing market,” Jessica Lautz, NAR’s deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in a statement. “It helps industry professionals by providing detailed local information about challenges and success.”
According to the report, the Black homeownership rose to 44.7% in 2023, an increase of 60 basis points from the year before that was driven by more Black first-time homebuyers. While that is the highest yearly gain among all races, it is still well below the white homeownership rate, which was 72.4% in 2023 (up 0.1%). Black homeownership also lagged behind Asians (63.4%) and Hispanics (51%).
The increase in Black homeownership coincides with an overall increase in the national homeownership rate in 2023. According to the report, 65.2% of American households owned their home in 2023, which is slightly higher than it was in 2013 (63.5%). This shakes out to about 11.8 million more homeowners during this time frame.
Despite overall improvements, the gap between white and Black homeownership has only widened during that same 10-year period.
White homeowners still outnumber their Black counterparts by more than 20 percentage points. Black homeownership rose by 2.8% between 2013 and 2023 — the lowest of all racial groups.
Meanwhile, Hispanic homeowners posted the largest rate increase during the decade, growing by 5.8%. NAR attributed this to an increase in the number of Hispanic households, which grew by 21%.
Although more Black Americans owned homes in 2023, affordability was still the biggest obstacle to achieving homeownership. In 39 states, Black homeowners spend more 30% of their income on housing costs, according to NAR.
This lack of buying power was also evident among renters. NAR said that in 46 states “Black renters face greater affordability challenges than their White counterparts.”
For many Black Americans who tried to buy a home, issues arose before they reached the closing stage. Qualifying for a mortgage was and is still a significant hurdle for Black homeowners. According to the report, 21% of Black homebuyers saw mortgage application denials in 2023. That’s also the highest share by any racial group.
“Today’s first-time home buyers continue to face housing affordability and credit-access challenges, but the situation nationwide varies when assessing purchasing power,” Lautz said.
“Buyers have always had to consider total home costs — including utilities, insurance and commuting expenses — which are especially important when taking the initial steps into ownership.”
Despite consistent challenges, more first-time Black homebuyers entered the market in 2024.
According to a recent report from Zillow, 62% of all Black homebuyers were first-timers in 2024, the same as the year before, even as the overall share of first-time buyers declined. Despite that, only 17.6% of listings are considered affordable for the average Black household.
