Historically, members of some racial and ethnic groups have suffered discrimination in buying homes and accessing home mortgages. A home is a vital financial asset for a family and an investment in both the local neighborhood and surrounding community.

In 2017-21, there were significant racial and ethnic disparities in homeownership rates in the region. The rate was highest among white residents, at 73%, followed by Asian residents at 55%, Hispanic residents at 38%, and African American residents at 33%.

At the state level, the ownership rate was similar for African American residents, but lower for all other groups: 4 percentage points lower among Asian residents; 11 points for Hispanic residents; and 9 points for white residents. At the national level, the homeownership rate was slightly lower for white residents (2 percentage points), but higher for all other groups: 10 points for African American residents, 11 points for Hispanic residents, and 6 points for Asian residents.

Since 2000, the share of Asian and Hispanic homeowners in the region increased 5 percentage points. The rate for African American homeowners declined 2 points. There was no change for white homeowners.

Most of the counties in the region did not have large enough populations of residents in each racial or ethnic group for reliable estimates, except Monroe, which had rates of homeownership very similar to the region as a whole. In the City of Rochester, homeownership rates were substantially lower for each group, and disparities remained. White residents had the highest rate of homeownership, at 44%, followed by Asian residents at 27%, Hispanic residents at 27%, and African American residents at 30%.

Disparities in homeownership are connected to racial inequities within systems beyond housing, including financial services, labor market and intergenerational wealth. Historic practices including redlining, exclusionary mortgage practices and restrictive covenants barring property from being owned by members of specific groups directly locked people out of homeownership. These had intergenerational effects when people of color were unable to benefit from wealth transfers of home equity as white homebuyers can. Since Black and Latino households generally have lower wages and wealth accumulation, they have less resources for down payments and higher debt to income ratios. With lower credit scores than other racial/ethnic groups, communities of color may be less likely to qualify for mortgages as underwriting standards increase. Many in the Black and Latino community may lack information about the home buying process and choose to stay renters. Discrimination during the home buying process also influences whether people of color buy a house. Researchers have found that during the search process, people of color were shown fewer houses and provided less information than whites.

The multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are expected to be released in the fourth quarter.