Improving Housing Finance

Homeownership is an important source of wealth, accounting for more than 40 percent of net worth for the median white homeowner and 60 percent for Black homeowners. Owning a home gives most households greater security than renting, makes it possible for many families to pass on a valuable asset to their heirs, and holds great symbolic value, representing an important milestone for tens of millions of people.

Access to homeownership and its benefits is also deeply inequitable, with 72 percent of white households owning their home compared to only 48 percent and 42 percent of Hispanic and Black households, respectively — a consequence of past and present housing market discrimination and the economic and social impacts of systemic racism. This inequity is all the more important because of the crucial role housing plays in upward mobility in the United States. Housing finance regulation determines who can and cannot become a homeowner, as well as influencing the cost of housing, stability of payments, risk of foreclosure, and much more.

The Lewis Center Housing Initiative studies the racial and ethnic disparities in mortgage outcomes, the causes of these disparities in the present day, and potential solutions. Because homeownership also comes with considerable financial risk and is increasingly out of reach for many Americans, we also explore reforms that may provide wealth-building opportunities for renters or support alternative forms of homeownership that are accessible to people of more diverse backgrounds and income levels.