Housing Availability + Ownership Among Minority Communities

Housing Availability + Ownership

Home ownership has positive effects on neighborhoods, families, and children. Neighborhoods with high home ownership are safer, stronger, and more prosperous than those without high ownership. Families who own their homes are more stable, financially secure, and invested in their communities. Children who live in homes owned by their families are less likely to drop out of school and less likely to have children out of wedlock. Yet far fewer people of color own homes than do whites.

The Wilkins Center has long studied the causes of this disparity and joined with community partners to share knowledge and solutions to reduce the ownership disparity. The factors examined include the causes of racial disparities in home ownership; racial differences in mortgage loan rejection rates; and the impact of the secondary mortgage market on mortgage availability. The center’s research continues to demonstrate an ongoing racial disparity in home ownership rates and loan rejection rates among different ethnic groups. This research has served as an integral part of two significant projects aimed at improving home ownership among people of color.

America's Best + Worst Lenders

The Wilkins Center works with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition to analyze mortgage loan rejections at financial institutions in the twenty largest U.S. metropolitan areas. They study the lending decisions of mortgage granting institutions and determine rejection rates for different ethnic and racial populations. Financial institutions are then ranked based on the racial disparities in their loan practices. The rankings are released to the public and point out the vast differences between institutions. The study serves as an important guide for home buyers, home buying programs, and realtors as well as government agencies to evaluate fairness and effectiveness of financial institutions.

50/30 project

The 50/30 Project is a union of the Wilkins Center, the Urban Coalition, mortgage bankers, home buying programs, government agencies, and community organizations to improve home ownership among people of color and to strengthen neighborhoods in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. The project’s goal is to help 30-year-old people of color achieve a home ownership rate of 50 percent by the year 2010. To achieve this, the project conducts new research on home ownership disparities and future home ownership rates; examines best practices for home ownership around the nation; and proposes policy solutions to improve ownership of color in the region.

The Wilkins Center is the principal investigator for the quantitative research of the project. Focusing on the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the surrounding metropolitan area, and Minnesota, the center examines causes and demographics of home ownership, lending patterns, housing affordability, ownership trends, and the impact of different policy options on home ownership.

In addition to quantitative research, a series of focus groups have been conducted with current and potential homeowners from each community of color and real estate and mortgage professionals. Participants in these groups were asked to discuss their experiences with home buying as well as their viewpoints on the strengths and weaknesses of the process and how it can be changed.

The results of both research phases will be used to form policy recommendations that address each community of color individually. The dynamics of ownership are different in each community, so solutions need to be community specific. These recommendations will serve as a guide to those involved in the project as well as to the wider banking, real estate, and nonprofit communities to support potential home buyers and improve ownership of color in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.