PHOTOS FROM 123RF
The state of housing for the Hispanics in Sacramento CA
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By Serina Lowden
or the middle class, homeownership has always been the path to achieve generational wealth. However, a recent report by Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) show that just 17 percent of the Black and Latino households could afford a median-priced home in California in 2021. While all Californians faced a higher-price barrier in 2021, another report by C.A.R shows that only 26 percent of the California households earned the minimum annual income of $144,400 which was needed for the household to afford the monthly payment of a home priced at $786,750 which was down from 28 percent in 2020 and 30 percent in 2019. About 34 percent of the White households could afford a median priced home, down from 38 percent in 2020 while 40 percent of the Asian Homebuyers could afford a home in 2021 down
from 43 percent in 2020. Going with the current market rates and market conditions, it is highly likely that such disparities could continue to grow this year and beyond.
“When you see interest rates rising — and mortgage payments rising faster than income — that means affordability overall should decline in 2022,” Wei said. “The housing affordability gap between ethnic groups … could widen.” The Latino households in California, more so in Sacramento earned a median income less than those of the state’s white and Asian families. This therefore meant that many of them were locked out of home buying opportunities as they could not afford to buy. MAY 2022 | 79
