The most recent report released on June 10, showed double-digit CPI increases for fuel, food, utilities, and both new and used vehicles.
Homeownership, historically a reliable building block to family wealth, is more of a challenge today for first-time homebuyers. As of 2022’s first quarter, the median price of an existing single family home grew to $368,200, according to the National Association of Realtors , 15.7 percent higher than a year ago.
From 2013 to 2019, after adjusting for inflation, the median household income of Black households increased by just $800, compared with about $3,000 for white households and $3,700 for Latinx households, according to research by the National Equity Atlas that analyzed the nation’s 100 largest metro areas. Additionally, during these same years, the number of neighborhoods affordable to Black households dropped by 14 percent.
“As of February 2022, migration out of the largest 25 cities remains three times higher than the rate pre-pandemic,” states the Freddie Mac report. “The most significant increase in migration has been to midsized metro areas with populations between 500,000 to 1 million, followed by smaller midsized metros and smaller metro areas.”
Some home lenders may offer adjustable-rate mortgages as an alternative to cash-strapped buyers. But the key word in these loans is ‘adjustable’. When loan interest resets occur, borrowers should plan for higher interest rates. It would also be prudent to remember that the foreclosure crisis of the early 2000s was fueled by high-cost mortgage loans that left millions of Black and Latino homeowners either without a home or remaining in one with a loan balance larger than its market value.