The Impact of Diversity on the Homeownership Rate

The changing racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. population may affect the country’s rate of homeownership.

In this clip taken from a St. Louis Fed Dialogue with the Fed presentation, William Emmons examined generational patterns of homeownership by race and ethnicity. He found large gaps between the homeownership rates of white households and those of minority households.

For example, depending on age of the household head, the rates for Hispanic families are about 10 to 20 percentage points lower than the rates for white families.

Emmons is an assistant vice president and economist at the St. Louis Fed and the senior economic adviser at the St. Louis Fed’s Center for Household Financial Stability.

Additional Resources

• Dialogue with the Fed: Is Homeownership Still the American Dream?
• On the Economy: The Homeownership Rate over the Past Decade
• On the Economy: Wealth Gaps Grow with Educational Attainment