A typical Black household can only afford a starter home in 10 of the nation’s 50 most populous metros, according to a new report from Redfin (NASDAQ:RDFN). In comparison, the typical White household can afford a starter home in 32 of the 50 metros.
For its report, Redfin determined that a household should spend no more than 30% of their income on monthly housing costs, while starter homes were defined as being in the fifth to the 35th percentile of their respective metro area based on market value.
Redfin also pointed out that the estimated median income for Black households nationwide is $57,129, versus $90,995 for White households. Nationwide, the typical Black family would spend 41% of their earnings on housing to afford a starter home.
The report found that Detroit was the most affordable major metro area for Black families looking to buy a starter home – a Black household earning the local median income would spend 16% of their earnings to afford the median-priced starter home, taking current mortgage rates into account. Detroit was followed by St. Louis, where a family earning the local median income for a Black household would spend 21% of their earnings to afford the typical starter home. Next came Baltimore (23%), Indianapolis (26%), Philadelphia (27%), Cleveland (27%), Pittsburgh (29%), Warren, Michigan (30%), Columbus, Ohio (30%) and Kansas City (30%).
Redfin added that starter homes are affordable to Black families in those metro areas because they’re among the least expensive housing markets – for example, the typical Detroit starter home costs just $66,000 and comes with a median monthly payment of $579.
“Starter homes have become increasingly difficult for everyone to afford, with prices of the typical starter home up 8% in the last year alone,” said Redfin Senior Economist Elijah de la Campa. “That has pushed buyers who earn more money to buy starter homes and pushed lower-income buyers out of the market altogether – and many of those lower-income buyers are Black. The encouraging news is that while there’s still a major homeownership gap between Black and White families, there are signs more Black Americans could start getting their foot in the door: The share of U.S. mortgages taken out by Black homebuyers has ticked up recently, and the racial wage gap is shrinking.”
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