D.C. Home Ownership By Race
Alan Cleaver / Flickr
Whites make up the largest percentage of D.C.’s home owners, and they are followed closely by African Americans. That’s according to new U.S. Census Bureau data detailing the race of people who are on deeds and leases of the District’s 266,707 occupied housing units.
Despite the seeming parity between whites and blacks in home ownership, there are far more black than white people in the District — 70,702 more in 2010 — and a disproportionately low number of blacks own homes when compared to whites. Whites over-represent home owners.
As for renters, African Americans are on most of the leases in the District, followed by whites, Latinos and Asians. And all of this data excludes D.C.’s 17,316 multiracial residents, which constitute 2.9 percent of the city’s population.
| Owner-occupied units |
Renter-occupied units |
Percentage of total population | |
| Black: | 48,887 | 77,012 | 50.7% |
| White: | 51,838 | 55,144 | 38.5% |
| Latino: | 5,676 | 12,342 | 9.1% |
| Asian: | 3,311 | 6,246 | 3.5% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Why is home ownership so important? It’s long been viewed as one of the keystones in building wealth and climbing out of poverty. And although the black middle class was particularly hit hard when the housing bubble burst because so much of their wealth was tied up in home equity, District home owners have fared better than elsewhere. D.C. is the only city where housing prices increased over the past year. The District’s home ownership rate has risen by 45 percent over the past decade, but it appears the rate isn’t increasing fast enough for everyone.
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http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SR3IUHGQSANUH7KNSEUUOPKJ6Q Sharon White