The Homeownership Experience of Low-Income and Minority Households: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature

Christopher E. Herbert

Eric S. Belsky

This article reflects the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The purpose of this article is to review and synthesize literature about low-income and minority households’ experience with homeownership and to assess the extent to which homeownership is likely to benefit these groups. We present this work in the interest of supporting the development of effective policies for promoting and supporting homeownership and of addressing the concerns raised by those who fear that too great an emphasis is placed on promoting homeownership. Although several recent reviews of the literature have assessed the empirical evidence on the benefits of homeownership, this study is unique in that it explicitly focuses on what is known about low-income and minority households’ experience with homeownership.