Employed

Per Capita Income

Above Poverty

Economic

Preschool Enrollment

Bachelor's Education

High School Enrollment

Education

Voting

Census Response

Social

Automobile Access

Active Commuting

Transportation

Insured Adults

Healthcare Access

Retail Density

Park Access

Tree Canopy

Neighborhood

Severely Cost Burdened Low-Income Renters

Severely Cost Burdened Low-Income Homeowners

Housing Habitability

Uncrowded Housing

Homeownership

Housing

Ozone

Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5)

Diesel Particulate Matter

Safe Drinking Water

Clean Environment

Extreme Heat

Impervious Surfaces

Outdoor Workers

Public Transit Access

Sea Level Rise

Two Parent Households

Alcohol Availability

Supermarket Access

Decision Support

All residents should be able to afford adequate housing without giving up healthy food, medical care, or other necessities, or accepting unsafe housing conditions. Everyone should have the opportunity to build wealth over time by purchasing a home, which can protect against rising rents and promote social ties and neighborhood stability. When housing cost burdens are high, individuals and families must make difficult choices with limited options. They may experience unhealthy, poor-quality housing (see the policy guide on 

), save money by living with others (see the policy guide on Uncrowded Housing), limit use of utilities, skip routine check-ups or wait to seek healthcare, and buy lower cost food. With budgets stretched to the breaking point, households also experience housing insecurity and are vulnerable to displacement from their homes and neighborhoods. Housing instability, crowding and homelessness are associated with: low birth weights, depression, behavioral problems, and educational delays for children; asthma, tuberculosis, and other communicable diseases; skipped meals and medical appointments or medication; social isolation; and loss of political voice. When low-income residents are forced to leave high cost areas, they often leave behind places rich with opportunity, and may need to commute long distances, straining budgets and worsening air quality and climate change.

Homeownership is the single largest source of wealth creation for Americans and has traditionally been an especially important wealth-building strategy for people of color.

 Yet while homeownership can be an important wealth generation strategy, if done poorly, it can strip wealth.

 Subprime loans and the recent foreclosure crises decimated the savings of many families of color, reducing the median net worth of Latinos by 66% and African Americans by 53% – far more than the 16% reduction for Whites.

This indicator measures the percentage of people who own their home.

UC Berkeley Urban Displacement Project, “Gentrification, Displacement and the Role of Public Investment: A Literature Review,” March 3, 2015, http://iurd.berkeley.edu/uploads/Displacement_Lit_Review_Final.pdf.

“The Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard for California | Insight,” accessed January 10, 2017, http://www.insightcced.org/past-archives/insight-networks/building-economic-security-for-all-besa/californians-for-economic-security-cfes/the-self-sufficiency-standard-for-california/.

UCLA and UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, “Enforcing City Minimum Wage Laws In California: Best Practices and City-State Partnerships,” 2015, : http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/pdf/2015/minimum-wage-enforcement.pdf; U.S. Department of Labor, “The Social and Economic Effects of Wage Violations: Estimates for California and New York,” December 2014.

San Francisco Department of Public Health and Health Impact Partners, “A Health Impact Assessment of the California Healthy Families, Healthy Workplaces Act of 2008,” July 2008, http://www.humanimpact.org/downloads/healthy-workplaces-act-report-2008/.

Pew Research Center. “Wealth inequality has widened along racial, ethnic lines since end of Great Recession”. 2014. Available at: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/12/racial-wealth-gaps-great-recession

Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative, “Displacement Brief” (Oakland, February 2012), http://barhii.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/BARHII-displacement-brief.pdf.

U.S. Census Bureau, “American Community Survey, 1 Year Estimates”, 2016.

The Greenlining Institute; Economic Equity: Homeownership: http://greenlining.org/issues-impact/economic-equity/homeownership/

George Galster and Anna Santiago, “Low-Income Homeownership as an Asset-Building Tool: What Can We Tell Policymakers?,” in Urban and Regional Policy and Its Effects, Wolman, H. and Turner, M.A. Eds (Brookings Institution Press, 2008), 66–71.

Debbie Gruenstein Bocian, Keith S. Ernst, and Wei Li, Race, Ethnicity and Subprime Home Loan Pricing, Journal of Economics and Business, 60, 110-124 (2008)

PEW Research Center’s The Toll of the Great Recession; tabulations of Survey of Income and Program Participation data: http://www.pewhispanic.org/2011/07/26/the-toll-of-the-great-recession/

Christopher Herbert and Herbert Tsen, “The Potential of Downpayment Assistance for Increasing Homeownership Among Minority and Low-Income Households” (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2005), https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/homeown/downpayasstlih.html.

Increasing homeownership requires a range of policies to make it easier to purchase and stay in a home, and to increase economic opportunities so that families can afford a home.

To widen opportunities for homeownership, local jurisdictions can 

, by lowering financial barriers to homeownership, helping families understand their financial opportunities and providing alternative models of homeownership. The initial barrier of a down-payment can be insurmountable for many families, especially low to moderate income families, and families of color who are disproportionally unlikely to have access to inherited wealth. Nationally, the median white household currently owns 13 times more than a median Black family and 10 times more than the median Latino family, and this gap is growing.

 Even a small amount of financial assistance at the time of purchase can go a long way, dramatically improving the number of households able to afford to buy a home and build wealth.

Many homeowners face challenges in paying mortgage costs (especially those due to predatory lending), necessary repairs and maintenance and utilities. These costs can force families to reduce spending on food, medical care, housing repairs, or other things necessary for good health, and in some circumstances can result in foreclosure and loss of the home. Jurisdictions should 

 by providing emergency support or other programs to help reduce costs.

Local jurisdictions that subsidize homeownership can 

Develop Resources for Affordable Homeownership

 by cultivating new sources of funding from fees, inclusionary zoning, and other sources. They can also make housing more affordable by reducing development barriers for subsidized housing and making vacant or underutilized land available.

In addition to the housing policies above, jurisdictions should also increase economic opportunities so that families can afford a home. Specifically, decision-makers can craft policies to 

, focusing especially on offering quality financial products to allow residents save for homeownership and make mortgage payments.

Raise workplace standards and wages to ensure that workers have jobs that allow them to afford homeownership.

Health

Sufficient Evidence

Paid Sick Day Policies

Equity

Wage Theft Policies

Minimum Wage Ordinances

Living Wage Ordinances

Lower financial barriers to homeownership, help families understand their financial opportunities and provide alternative models of homeownership

Promising

Lease-Purchase Programs 

Strong Evidence

Homeownership Counseling 

Affordability Assistance Programs 

Limited or Shared Equity Homeownership Programs 

Community Power and Connection

Community Land Trusts

Ensure that individuals and families have access to safe, affordable, high-quality housing during public health and climate emergencies. 

Emerging

Provide Rent and Mortgage Payment Relief

Enact Moratoria on Evictions, Foreclosures, and Sweeps of Encampments

Convert Vacant Units into Safe Homes

Climate

Best Practice

Provide Utilities as a Public Good

Emergency support is sometimes necessary to keep people in their homes and stabilize neighborhoods. Assisting individuals and families in paying housing costs, mortgage payments, necessary maintenance, and utilities will keep them in their homes and neighborhoods.

Pollution

Homeowner Rehabilitation Programs

Weatherization Programs

Second Unit Amnesty Programs

Mobile Home Preservation Programs

Accessory Dwelling Unit and Detached Dwelling Unit Policies

Emergency Homeowner Assistance/Foreclosure Prevention Programs

Ensure that people have pathways and training to good jobs that allow them to afford homeownership.

First Source/Local Hiring Ordinances

Job-Focused Basic Skill Training Programs

Industry Driven, Sector-Based Training Programs

Paid Job Training and Placement Programs for Groups that Face Barriers to Employment

Cultivate new sources of funding and other resources to support affordable homeownership.

Lower Development Barriers

Seek Additional Funding Sources

Inclusionary Zoning Policies

Healthy Neighborhoods

Density Bonuses, Incentive Zoning, and Public Benefit Zoning Policies

Vacant or Underutilized Public Land

Residential and Commercial Impact Fees or Linkage Fees

Help lift whole communities economically, so they can afford homeownership.

Worker Cooperative Support Initiatives (Emerging Practice)

Industrial Land Preservation Strategies 

Small Business Retention Initiatives

Middle-Wage Job Creation Strategies 

Help families build and maintain wealth so that they can afford homeownership and save for their futures and children.

Policy Guide

Homeownership

References