Ethnic Inequality in Homeownership and House Value: An Investigation of Wealth and Assimilation Differences among Blacks in the United States

Rebbeca Tesfai, University of Pennsylvania

Homeownership and house value not only give an indication of economic success and wealth, but also provide insights into the assimilation of minorities and immigrants. While a great deal is known about black-white and US-native born disparities, little research investigates ethnic differences amongst blacks. Given their combination of race and nativity, black immigrant assimilation into homeownership may differ from US-born blacks. I use the 1990 and 2000 censuses and the 2006-2008 pooled ACS to investigate differences in likelihood of homeownership and house-value among blacks. I find that Caribbean-born blacks are more likely than US-born blacks to own their homes in all three time periods while this is only true for African-born blacks in 2006-2008. Both immigrant groups’ house values are significantly higher than US-born blacks in all three time periods. These results indicate that black immigrants are better able to assimilate into homeownership and accumulate wealth than US-born blacks.