Getting and Keeping a Home: A Lifetable Analysis of Black/White Homeownership Transitions in the US, 1969-2003

Vanesa Estrada, University of California, Los Angeles

While a number of demographic and socioeconomic factors have been linked to homeownership, research demonstrates that racial differences in ownership rates persist even after accounting for life-cycle, resources, preferences and regional composition. This project examines the black/white homeownership gap by assessing the household transitions in and out of homeownership from 1969-2003. By utilizing the residence histories of a national sample of households, I am able to study age differences in the timing of home purchases and differential rates of ownership loss. Using multi-state life tables I study the black/white differences in the occurrence and timing of housing transitions such as becoming an owner, buying subsequent homes and returning to renter status. An emphasis is placed on how these transitions have changed over time between 1969-2003 and how they vary across cohorts.