For many, along with financial independence, becoming a homeowner is considered the quintessential American dream. Home ownership is one of the fundamental tools for creating wealth in the United States, but historically black home buyers have faced unfair policies and systematic discrimination, such as getting low rates. higher interest from mortgage lenders and real estate agents.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government implemented ways to strengthen homeownership by creating the Home Owners’ Loan Act in 1933 as well as the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC). The goal of these efforts was to help stimulate mortgage financing. The HOLC would pioneer the neighborhood rating system, known today as redlining. For decades, these neighborhood maps and rankings served as a model in real estate practices. Predominantly white neighborhoods were considered more desirable and lower risk to bankers and other lenders and were coded green by this ranking system. Neighborhoods with predominantly black, Hispanic, and Asian residents were often closer to industrial locations and were considered “unsafe” and coded red.

The black-white homeownership gap is wider today (30%) than it was in 1968, when the Fair Housing Act was originally passed, prohibiting discrimination in housing. selling, renting or financing a home.

Census data from 2019 showed nearly 72% of white families are homeowners, compared to just 42% of black families. Black homeownership rates have steadily declined over the years, even before the housing market crash of 2008. The average first home purchased by a black buyer is valued at $127,000, but he racks up $90,000. $ in mortgage debt, while white first-time buyers’ homes are valued at $139,000 with mortgage debt of $75,000. This puts black buyers in more debt for a less valued asset, weakening their investment returns. Most southern states have over 50% black homeownership rates.

Stacker compiled a list of statistics on the black property gap in Montana using data from the US Census Bureau. The homeownership rate is the percentage of all households that are owner-occupied as estimated 2019 year over year.

Montana in numbers

– Home ownership gap among Blacks: 51.6%
– #4 highest among all states
– Home ownership rate: 68.9%
— Black homeownership rate: 19.7% (3rd lowest among all states)
— Rate of white owners: 71.3%
— Home ownership rate for American Indians and Alaska Natives: 47.7%
— Homeownership rate in Asia: 52.8%
— Home ownership rate among Hispanics: 43.8%

States with the Largest Black Homeownership Gap

#1. North Dakota: 61.5%
#2. Wyoming: 56.6%
#3. Minnesota: 51.7%

States with the lowest black homeownership gap

#1. Washington, D.C.: 15.3%
#2. Alaska: 23.1%
#3. Maryland: 24.9%