Tapped Out? Racial Disparities in Extra-Familial Resources and the Loss of Homeownership

Gregory Sharp , University at Buffalo, State University of New York (SUNY)
Ellen Whitehead, Rice University
Matthew Hall, Cornell University

Whereas existing research on race and homeownership has demonstrated the importance of extended-family resources in shaping the racial gap in owning, there has been a lack of work assessing how extra-familial resources prevent the loss of homeownership, particularly during economic crises (e.g., mortgage distress, job loss). This study uses longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1984-2015) to investigate the link between race, extended-family resources, and the risk of transitioning from homeowning to renting. Preliminary results from race-specific bivariate probit models indicate that economic trigger events increase the probability of homeownership exit similarly for black and white owners. Moreover, household wealth is more influential to sustaining ownership for whites than blacks, while extended-family resources exert little impacts on exit across race. Further analyses will test additional measures of extended-family resources, and whether these resources buffer or modify the negative housing effects of economic hardships in racially uneven ways.

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 Presented in Session 166. Race, Wealth, and Debt