Racial/Ethnic Differences in Home Ownership and Housing Quality, 1991

This study uses two data sets to examine racial/ethnic differences in three aspects of housing consumption - housing unit inadequacy, proximity to abandoned buildings, and home ownership - in the New York-New Jersey-Long Island metropolitan area and in New York City. In general, the results show that the spatial assimilation model explains the process of home ownership well, but that housing unit quality and neighborhood physical condition respond mainly to indicators of a family's purchasing power. After controlling for group differences in family composition and socioeconomic resources, Black and Hispanic families remained less likely than white families to live in high-quality units and neighborhoods, and all minority families were less likely to own their homes in both locations. These persistent disadvantages may partially reflect preferences for residence apart from whites (see Feagin 1994) but also suggest that the poorer treatment that minority home seekers receive from housing market agents helps to sort Black, Hispanic, and - to a lesser degree - Asian families toward lower-quality housing opportunities than those available to whites.