Census shows widening racial gap in home ownership

She longed for a stable place for her six children to grow up, equity to borrow against for their college loans, personal financial security and a great reason to stay active in her community.

But her hopes faded with the first credit check. A recent divorce had left Dickerson with credit-card debt, old hospital bills and lease contracts she was forced to break while she bounced between apartments.

The bank denied a mortgage loan for the 37-year-old single mother. "That was a big blow to me," she said. "It was something I really wanted."

Dickerson, who is African American, illustrates a trend. In Washington, a racial gap in home ownership rates continues, according to 2000 Census numbers released today.

Despite a decade of economic prosperity and an increased number of programs to help first-time buyers, most black residents throughout the state are still deferring the American dream.

Only 37 percent of blacks own their homes statewide, up only 1 percent from 10 years ago, a Seattle Post-Intelligencer analysis of census data found.

Yet two-thirds of whites and a majority of Asians and Native Americans now own their own homes, the new data shows. And ownership rates improved a little more among those groups than among blacks.

To be precise, the census looked specifically at ownership rates for heads of households, not all members of a race category.

In Seattle, 51 percent of whites own their homes, compared with 46 percent of Asians, 36 percent of blacks, 30 percent of multiracial residents, 27 percent of native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and 26 percent of Native Americans.

The benefits of home ownership extend beyond being able to paint the living room chartreuse or having a cat. There are social, economic and political ramifications when people are not able to buy homes.

"It becomes an issue of self-worth and assessment," said Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University. "Our culture clearly has a predisposition toward home ownership with the sense that if you don't own your own home, you are less successful and less worthy."

Dickerson knows what a home can do to improve quality of life. She grew up in a house in Arkansas where her family lived for 30 years.

"We had the same teachers, went to the same church," she said. "You felt like part of a community that loved you and everyone looked out for one another."

Moving from one apartment to another "takes away stability. Kids change schools, leave friends. It messes them up," Dickerson said.

Reasons for the disparity in home ownership, including soaring prices, are numerous. And solutions aren't easy.

For years, concerns have been raised and investigations conducted into loan discrimination. All the scrutiny has not erased the gap.

"People are being discriminated against, unfortunately," said Dee Taylor, director of the home ownership division of the Washington State Finance Commission. "Minority borrowers are running up against that."

She said that minorities also are more often victims of predatory lending, which promises low rates only to trap borrowers in contracts with hidden fees they can't afford. Ultimately, they can lose their homes.

Dorothy Lengyel is executive director of HomeSight, a local non-profit agency that teaches first-time buyers how to save money and improve their credit reports. Like Dickerson, many people with moderate incomes run into trouble with credit-card debt.

HomeSite gives out little pouches for credit cards emblazoned with a slogan, "Want wealth? Control your credit." Lengyel suggests that people put the credit cards in the freezer and forget about them.

The Seattle market is just too expensive for many minorities, Lengyel said. People aren't able to save enough and come from families who have earned moderate wages over generations, precluding windfalls from a wealthy aunt or grandparent.

In some Seattle neighborhoods, home ownership has achieved equality, the P-I analysis found. In multiple areas in Capitol Hill and the Central Area, the rate of black ownership was nearly equal to or surpassed that of whites, when comparing neighborhoods with 30 or more households headed by an African American.

And in some of the lower-priced cities south of Seattle, racial minority groups enjoyed significant increases in home ownership rates since 1990.

In Kent, ownership for blacks doubled to 26 percent, and in Auburn it increased 10 percentage points to 36 percent. Ownership for whites and other minorities also increased.

"The reason that the market is hot here is affordability," said David Jordan, branch manager for the Windermere Real Estate office in Auburn.

But even in other "affordable" areas, the disparity was striking. In one SeaTac neighborhood, 65 percent of whites owned their homes while 15 percent of blacks did.

And in some of the priciest cities, the racial gap widened over the decade. In Redmond, for example, black ownership dropped from 47 percent to 37 percent while white ownership nudged down from 58 percent to 57 percent. In Kirkland, black ownership dropped from 36 percent to 30 percent while white ownership grew slightly.

Things have turned around for Dickerson since she was turned down for a home loan three years ago. She started a successful janitorial business and found a nice five-bedroom rental home in Renton for $2,200 a month. But Dickerson hasn't had the heart to renew her house hunt.

In Renton, 53 percent of whites own their homes while less than one-third of African Americans do. She said the disparity is obvious and hurts the entire community.

If you own a home, "you're going to care more about (the community) -- take pride in it," she said.

"You don't find many black folks that own homes around here. It makes you kind of angry," Dickerson said. "You don't have anything to show for your hard work. You're constantly putting more into somebody else's pocket. That's not going to be to your advantage at all."

P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler@seattlepi.com P-I reporters Lise Olsen and Ruth Schubert contributed to this report.

Add P-I Local headlines to