Two cities in Texas close Hispanic-white homeownership gap

Hispanic homeownership improves in the southwest but shrinks in the northeast

Two cities in Texas close Hispanic-white homeownership gap

Out of 100 metros in the United States, only two cities have narrowed the homeownership gap between white and Hispanic households.

Hispanic homeownership, according to a recent research from the Urban Institute, still falls behind non-Hispanic white homeownership despite efforts to address the issue.

The largest populations of Hispanic households are concentrated in El Paso and Laredo, Texas. El Paso has more than 63% Hispanic homeownership rate, 4.1% higher than its white homeownership rate. Meanwhile, Laredo's Hispanic homeownership rate of 61.5% was 2.8% higher than its white homeownership rate.

Like in these two cities, the report showed that homeownership gap between Hispanics and non-Hispanic white households was narrower in Southwestern metros, especially in many Texas cities. Other metropolitan areas with large shares of Hispanic households include Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Riverside, San Antonio, and San Diego.

The size of the homeownership gap tends to shrink when the city's Hispanic population grows. The Urban Institute also noted that the availability of affordable housing may have partially caused the tightening homeownership gap in the Southwest, as El Paso was named one of the most affordable housing markets in the US.

The gap in Northeastern cities, on the other hand, is significantly wider than in other regions. Although metros in this region have substantial shares of Hispanic households, cities like New York City still have comparatively lower Hispanic populations. The Big Apple has the second-highest number Hispanic households at nearly 1.5 million – but that only accounts for 21% of total households in the metro.

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