African Americans and Homeownership: Separate and Unequal, 1940 to 2006

Homeownership is an integral part of the American dream. Since the 1930s, when the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was established, the federal government has played an active role in helping the American populace achieve this aspect of the dream. As with many aspects of the American dream, however, the vision that is realized by blacks or African Americans differs from that achieved by other Americans. In particular, the gap between homeownership rates among white households and African American households (of all income groups combined) has exceeded 20 percentage points every year since 1940. This gap remained during the post-World War II period (late 1940s through the 1950s), generally viewed as the first major homeownership growth spurt in U.S. history. Only when ownership rates are compared for persons with incomes above 120 percent of area median income does this gap fall appreciably below 20 percentage points; the white-black homeownership gap fell to nearly 12 percentage points for these higher income households in 2001.