By Ethnic Media Services<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a year fraught with financial challenges, going home for the holidays will have heightened significance this year for many Black and Latino families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New research findings reveal that between 2019 and 2021, a period that included COVID-19 pandemic assistance programs, homeownership among Black and Latino families increased. The increase was due in part to pandemic assistance like suspended student loan payments and extended or enhanced unemployment benefits that changed household budgets. During these same years, financially troubled homeowners who received federal assistance, gained the resources to avoid foreclosure, largely through forbearance programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, Black and Latino homeowners shared in the largest equity appreciation in the past three decades. As home equity grows, so does family wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Analyzing the latest data from the Census Bureau\u2019s American Community Survey, the Urban Institute<\/a>, a DC-based nonpartisan research organization, found that Black household homeownership rose 2 percentage points, to 44 percent from 2019-2020., Latino household homeownership rose 2.5 percentage points to 50.6 percent. Both increases surpassed the 1.2 percentage point homeownership rate increase of white households during the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Black homeownership rate has experienced a continuous decline since the Great Recession, and Black households have been disproportionately affected by predatory lending practices but<\/p>\n\n\n\n the Black homeownership rate is finally showing gains,\u201d states the Institute\u2019s findings<\/p>\n\n\n\n The largest increases in the number of Black homeowners occurred in Florida, Georgia, and Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDespite the pandemic\u2019s negative effects on employment,\u00a0swift government actions, such as forbearance and unemployment benefits, helped Black and Latino households sustain homeownership and helped many enter homeownership and benefit from historically low-interest rates,\u201d\u00a0the\u00a0Institute<\/a>\u00a0authors continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n