In 2016, the black homeownership rate fell to 42.2 percent, 29.7 percentage points lower than the white homeownership rate. It was the largest gap in more than 70 years of data.
CBS News reports that underemployment, low wages, and a slow recovery from the foreclosure crisis have hit the black community particularly hard. In 2004, nearly half of blacks owned homes.
Last decade, lenders offered adjustable-rate packages that lured black buyers, but left them scrambling after the economy turned. Today, stricter lending policies and a lack of affordable housing has made it tough for them to buy a home.
An AP analysis of U.S. Census Bureau statistics shows some pockets of the Midwest and California had the lowest homeownership rates for African Americans, while some areas of the South had the highest.
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