Report: Nearly 50 percent of Philadelphia minorities are homeowners

Philadelphia is sixth among the largest U.S. metros when it comes to the most minority homeowners, according to a new report.

Real estate website Adobo recently found that 49.5 percent of minorities in Philadelphia are homeowners, which is slightly above the national average of 46 percent minority homeowners. Among the 100 metros studied, Philadelphia is 34th in the nation.

“Overall, when it comes to homeownership, minorities [...] lag behind the rest of the country,” the report noted.

Adobo researchers crunched U.S. Census Bureau numbers on race, ethnicity, and homeownership to track where in the U.S. minorities are keeping pace with their white peers, how ownership rates have changed over time and by ethnicity, and how long it takes minorities to save to afford buying a home.

Here’s how homeownership rates break down by race in the Philadelphia metro.

As the numbers show, among the largest minority groups, Hispanics have the lowest rates of homeownership in Philadelphia. But nationwide, blacks have the lowest rates of homeownership.

In general, Philadelphia’s minority homeownership rate is above the national average, which is a positive. But the report dug a little deeper and found that the real wealth gap between whites and minorities lies in home values.

Minorities in Philadelphia have to save for about 10 years to be able to afford a home. Meanwhile, the average value of a minority-owned home in Philadelphia is $162,400.

That home value is just 59.4 percent of the white median home value, placing Philadelphia in the bottom 10 metros with the least equitable home values.

These numbers put into stark realization the wealth gap in Philadelphia and the U.S. when it comes to homeownership and race. A number of factors are at play, the researchers noted, including the fact that minorities make on average less money than white citizens, and thus have to wait a lot longer to be able to save up enough for a down payment. And when they do have enough savings, what they can afford is worth much less than what white homebuyers can buy.

To see how Philadelphia compare to rest of the nation, visit the full report.