Race and the value of owner-occupied housing, 1940–1990

Abstract

We use data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) to document racial convergence in the value of owner-occupied housing from 1940 to 1990. Most of this convergence occurred before 1970, as black and white-owned units became more similar in terms of housing characteristics and as black and white homeowners became more similar in terms of their household characteristics. During the 1970s, convergence in values stalled despite continued convergence in housing and household characteristics; thus, the ‘unexplained’ or residual portion of the racial value gap increased. Because changes within metropolitan areas are central to the post-1970 story, we go on to explore the changing empirical connection between urban residential segregation and the racial value gap.