Housing Tenure and Residential Segregation in Metropolitan America, 2000-2010

Samantha Friedman, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)
Mary J. Fischer, University of Connecticut
Hui-shien Tsao, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)
Samuel Garrow, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)
Michael Barton, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)

Little research has focused on residential segregation by housing tenure despite the fact that it is an important marker of current and future socioeconomic status. Moreover, little is known about the impact of the expansion of homeownership and the related rise in subprime lending on segregation, in general, and in particular segregation by housing tenure. Using data from the 2000 and 2010 decennial censuses, we calculate indexes of dissimilarity for black, Hispanic, and Asian homeowners and renters, relative to whites. We find that while on average homeowners became less segregated over time, there are important differences by group. We conclude by exploring the relationship between changes in segregation of homeowners by loan volume and subprime lending using data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.