Study: Gap In Homeownership Between Races Is Smaller In San Diego

A new study shows San Diego has a gap in rates of homeownership among ethnic groups. But it is not as was wide a gap as most of the country.

The company Apartmentlist.com released a study last week that showed, nationwide, there is big gap between homeownership rates for whites and for other racial groups. When looking at Americans between the ages of 25 and 54, white households had a home ownership rate of 64 percent. It was 41 percent for Hispanics and 34 percent for blacks.

RELATED: Home Sales Down Across San Diego As Prices Continue To Rise

But different cities had different rates of homeownership. Cities like San Diego, with a high degree of racial diversity, had smaller disparities in homeownership rates. In San Diego Asians, not whites, had the highest rate of homeownership — 49 percent. It was 48 percent for whites.

Chris Salviati is a housing economist with Apartmentlist.com. He researched and wrote the study.

"San Diego has one of the smallest gaps of the metros that we looked at," he said. "But homeownership rates in San Diego overall are actually quite low."

He said that indicates that racial minority groups are not really better off in San Diego. It means everybody is having a hard time buying a home. Salviati said homeowner rates are important because owning a home is the primary driver of wealth in most households.

"And so, you know, the fact that white households are able to achieve home ownership at significantly higher rates than minorities is really a driver of inequality," he said.

The greatest home ownership gaps, between whites and racial minorities, were found in Rochester and Buffalo, New York. The smallest gaps in home ownership rates were seen in San Diego and Miami.

In San Diego, 33 percent of Latinos were homeowners. That was true of 20 percent of blacks.

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