Homeownership Among Minorities at Record

The nation’s homeownership rate rose to a near-record during the first three months of this year and set records for blacks and Hispanics. Nationally, 69.6 million American families, or 66.7%, owned the houses or apartments in which they lived, the Census Bureau said. That was the highest January-March rate on record, up from 66.4% in the October-December quarter. The highest quarterly rate on record, 66.8%, came last July-September. Five years ago, it was 64.2%. For blacks, the January-March rate was a record 46.9%, up from 46.5% in the fourth quarter. For Hispanics, it was a record 46.2%, up from 45.7%. The rate for whites was 72.8%, up from 72.6% in the fourth quarter but just short of the record 73.1% in the third quarter.