Minorities Increase Homeownership

Homeownership among U.S. minorities in the first three months of this year jumped to levels not seen since records were first started in 1975, mortgage finance company Fannie Mae said.

Citing U.S. Census Bureau data, Fannie Mae said homeownership nationally remained at an all-time high of 68.6% in the first quarter of 2004, unchanged from 2003’s fourth quarter.

“Between 1994 and 2003 the homeownership gain was larger for minorities than for nonminorities,” according to the Fannie Mae report. For minority households, the rate rose by 6.6 percentage points, compared with 5.1 percentage points for nonminority households. Fannie Mae also said the homeownership gap between minority and non-minority households narrowed to a record low of 24.6 percentage points in the first quarter of this year.