Home Ownership Differences between Hispanics and Anglos in the United States

Abstract

While recent work points to home ownership as a key factor in the exacerbation and perpetuation of racial/ethnic inequality, no research has studied Hispanic/Anglo differences in home ownership. I use data from the 1981 Annual Housing Survey to examine Hispanic/Anglo differences in home ownership net of socioeconomic characteristics, life-cycle factors, and geographic location. I also assess the differential effects of these determinants on the probability of home ownership between Anglos and each of the five major Hispanic subpopulations. The results demonstrate that Hispanics are significantly less likely to own homes than comparable Anglos. Moreover, Cubans, Central or South Americans, and Puerto Ricans experience much greater inequality in the probability of home ownership than Mexican Americans, Other Hispanics, or blacks. These findings point to the importance of incorporating home ownership into the study of economic inequality.