Research Report Wealth Opportunities Realized Through Homeownership (WORTH)
Subtitle
Baseline Report
Michael Neal, Corianne Payton Scally, Jung Hyun Choi, Sonia Torres Rodríguez, Caitlin Young, Lydia Lo, Peter A. Tatian
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This report is part of an evaluation of the Wealth Opportunities Realized through Homeownership (WORTH) initiative. Led by the Wells Fargo Foundation, WORTH supports efforts to close persistent disparities in homeownership in Atlanta, Houston, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, San Diego, and rural and tribal areas. In each market, we examine housing supply and demand, homebuying activity, homeownership trends, and preservation conditions. We found that in almost every market, white households have higher homeownership rates than every other racial or ethnic group. Moreover, macroeconomic forces driving market conditions, like higher interest rates and moderating house prices, can significantly dampen or thwart market collaboratives’ efforts to boost homeownership rates for people of color. Future evaluation will examine the implementation processes used in each market. The larger body of work contributes to understanding the crucial connection between homeownership and wealth-building and the multitude of barriers that households of color face in achieving homeownership. It also supports research-backed strategies for increasing homeownership for households of color and for reducing racial disparities.

Research Areas Housing Housing finance Economic mobility and inequality Neighborhoods, cities, and metros Race and equity Wealth and financial well-being
Tags Asian American and Pacific Islander communities Black/African American communities Latinx communities Native populations Economic well-being Homeownership Racial barriers to housing Racial homeownership gap Housing markets Macroeconomy Racial wealth gap Rural people and places Wealth inequality
Policy Centers Housing Finance Policy Center Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center
States Georgia Texas Wisconsin New York New Jersey Pennsylvania New Jersey Delaware Maryland Virginia California
Cities Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Richmond, VA San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
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