D
espite a decade-long surge in home prices, the US saw a modest increase in homeownership rates in 2023. However, this growth was largely driven by people of color, who continue to face significant barriers to affordable housing and credit access.
According to the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) 2025 Snapshot of Race and Home Buying in America, the national homeownership rate rose to 65.24% in 2023, reversing a decline reported in 2022. While this increase may seem encouraging, it masks stark disparities between racial groups.
Asian and Black communities made gains in homeownership rates, but the gap between white and Black homeowners remains wide – nearly 28 percentage points in 2023, up from just under 27 in 2013. Hispanic homeownership rates also fell slightly in 2023, despite a decade-long increase of 5.8 percentage points.
State-level data reveals even greater disparities, with Black homeownership rates ranging from 10% in North Dakota to 58% in Mississippi. Asian and Hispanic homeownership rates showed similar fluctuations, highlighting the need for targeted solutions to address these persistent gaps.
A separate NAR study found that people of color are increasingly entering the housing market as first-time buyers. In 2023, nearly half of Black homebuyers (49%) were making their first purchase, compared with 43% of Asian buyers and 41% of Hispanics. This trend underscores the importance of changing demographics and age structures in local populations.
However, affordability and access to credit remain significant challenges for many prospective buyers. High rent costs have made it difficult for some groups to save, with over half of Black and Hispanic renters ages 25-40 spending more than 30% of their income on housing. Median household incomes were also lower among Black and Hispanic buyers, making it harder for them to secure credit.
In fact, nearly a quarter of Black mortgage applicants (22%) and 17% of Hispanic applicants were denied loans in 2023. Those who were approved often took on higher-interest loans, exacerbating existing disparities in homeownership rates.
