The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households, according to a report released today by the Pew Research Center.
The report’s geographical analysis shows that in Florida median home prices dropped 38 percent between the end of 2005 and the end of 2009. That means that, along with Arizona, California, Michigan and Nevada, the median drop in household wealth for Florida Hispanics was around 88 percent.
The Pew report adds that “a disproportionate share of Hispanics live in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, which were in the vanguard of the housing real estate market bubble of the 1990s and early 2000s but that have since been among the states experiencing the steepest declines in housing values.”
The report finds that two out of every five Hispanics or Asians live in states where the home prices saw the lowest decline, while only one out of every five whites or blacks live in those same states.
It also adds that “the bursting of the housing market bubble in 2006 and the recession that followed from late 2007 to mid-2009 took a far greater toll on the wealth of minorities than whites.” Household wealth among Hispanics fell 66 percent, from more than $18,000 in 2005 to a little more than $6,000 in 2009, while black households saw a 53 percent decrease and white households a 16 percent fall in household wealth.
The report adds that “plummeting house values were the principal cause of the recent erosion in household wealth among all groups, with Hispanics hit hardest by the meltdown in the housing market.” The median level of home equity held by Hispanic homeowners declined by half, from about $100,000 to about $50,000, while the homeownership rate among Hispanics was also falling, from 51 percent to 47 percent from 2005 to 2009.
According to the Pew Hispanic Center, the 2010 Census counted 50.5 million Hispanics, about 16 percent of the total population.
