So whose dream is homeownership, anyway?
Who dreamed up the American Dream of homeownership? Was it a home builder, a mortgage banker, or a real estate broker?
Home ownership is subsidized by governments, advertised as a desirable form of holding assets, and believed to be an indicator of moral character. Actually, it is just an archaic extension of the powers afforded the favorites of the monarch.
In the 18th Century, when this nation was formed, land ownership was the principal source of income and a basis for the right to vote.
Renting was an indication of poverty and a road to continued indigency traveled by persons with poor manners and dubious reputation. Hoosier legislators openly and regularly express their concern for home owners. Renters, however, are a breed apart, akin to feral cats, to be fed only outside the back door.
Indiana, in 2021, had 71% of its single and multi-family housing units occupied by owners. That compares with 65% nationally.
In part, this difference was the result of a greater Hoosier emphasis on building or offering owner units during the past decade. Between 2011 to 2021, 87% of the Indiana’s increase in occupied units was for home owners compared with 73% nationwide.
It’s easy to imagine owner-occupied units as single-family homes and rentals as apartment houses. However, we’ve seen condos and single-family units go from owner to rental and rental apartments become owner-occupied condos. Owner or renter is not a permanent condition.
These data from the Census Bureau also provide numbers by race and ethnicity. In 2021, 24% of white Hoosier households (not persons) were rentals. Among Black or African American Hoosier households, 62% were rentals.
That spread of 38 percentage points (62 minus 24) is greater than the spread 10 years earlier (32 points). If being a renter is a worse condition than being a homeowner, then Hoosier Blacks are not seeing an improvement in their housing status.
Contrast these results with those for Hispanic Hoosier households. In 2021, 41% of Indiana’s Hispanic households while rentals were 24% of white, non-Hispanic households. That’s a spread of 17 percentage points which is better than the 2011 spread of 21 points.
Add this factor: in 2011, home ownership for Hoosier Black households was slightly ahead of that for their national counterparts (0.8% points), but fell behind the nation to minus-1.2% points in 2021. Meanwhile the comparable figures of Hispanic households improved by 2.2% points compared to the national condition.
Why is the “American Dream” better realized by Hispanic Hoosiers than by Black Hoosiers? Why is the “Dream” improving for Hispanics and deteriorating for Blacks?
Should anything be done about these discrepancies, or should we, as is often done these days, just blame it on COVID and forget it? I think not.
Readers can reach economist Morton Marcus at mortonjmarcus@yahoo.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Marcus: Who dreamed up American homeownership?
