In Case You Missed It - Share of Black and Asian Homebuyers Dropped to a Record Low

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ICYMI: Share of Black and Asian Homebuyers Dropped to a Record Low

In case you missed it, the hot housing market is causing the percentage of Black, Asian, and Pacific Islander homebuyers to drop to their lowest levels on record, a report from the National Association of Realtors has found. In contrast, the share of buyers who are White increased to 88%, their highest level since 1997.

As home prices and mortgage rates have been on the rise—with the average rate on a fixed-rate 30-year loan now above 7% according to Freddie Mac—homes have become more unaffordable, putting them out of the reach of many buyers. Hispanic homebuyers have increased their share, jumping to 8% of buyers, still a long way from their White counterparts. Black and Asian homebuyers made up 3% and 2%, respectively.

Interested homebuyers have been forced to wait longer to buy a home in this market. The average age of a first-time buyer increased to 36 years old, up from 33 years old just last year. The age of a typical repeat buyer (someone who has already purchased a house before) increased to 59 years, both record highs.

Many prospective buyers have been hoping for housing prices to crash, but with housing stock in low supply, incomes on the rise, and the job market still going strong, that's unlikely to happen anytime soon.

-Kristin

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Term of the Day

Redlining

Redlining is a form of lending discrimination used primarily against Black homebuyers in which people who live in certain communities are not allowed the same access to credit as people in other communities based on race, color, or other discriminatory factors.

Purchasing and owning real estate is one of most common ways of building generational wealth in the U.S. However, for many decades, redlining was used in conjunction with racially restrictive covenants in title documents as a way of keeping non-White citizens out of certain neighborhoods and perpetuating segregation.

The effects of redlining are still visible across the U.S. even to this day. Redlining has been a huge contributing factor to the wealth gap between Black and White Americans.

Off the Charts

Inflation is making your Thanksgiving favorites up to 17% more expensive than last year, according to an analysis by The Balance of the latest inflation data. Turkey will cost you close to 17% more at $1.58 per pound on average, and potatoes are 15% pricier at $1.12 per pound. Cranberries are the only Thanksgiving item on our list that dropped in price, and are 3.8% less expensive than 2021.