From falling sales to rising levels of negative equity, the housing crisis affected Greater Boston’s market in a number of ways, but how did the metro area’s homeownership rate fair amidst all that upheaval?
To find out, we consulted new research from Apartment List, which combed through the last seven years of Census Bureau data. Here are the three main things we found:
1. Here is how the overall homeownership rate in Greater Boston has shifted since 2007, along with several other large metro areas:
| Location | 2007 Average | 2011 Average | 2016 Average | Change in Rate: 2007 – 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | 66.4% | 65.8% | 62.5% | -3.9% |
| Boston | 64.8% | 65.5% | 58.5% | -6.3% |
| Chicago | 69.0% | 67.7% | 63.6% | -5.4% |
| Denver | 69.6% | 63.0% | 61.0% | -8.6% |
| Houston | 64.5% | 61.3% | 59.2% | -5.3% |
| Los Angeles | 52.3% | 50.1% | 47.8% | -4.5% |
| Miami | 66.6% | 64.2% | 57.8% | -8.9% |
| New York | 53.8% | 50.9% | 49.6% | -4.3% |
| Philadelphia | 73.1% | 69.7% | 65.4% | -7.8% |
| Phoenix | 70.8% | 63.3% | 62.4% | -8.4% |
| San Francisco | 58.0% | 56.1% | 55.6% | -2.4% |
| Seattle | 62.9% | 60.7% | 56.6% | -6.3% |
Greater Boston’s homeownership rate dropped 6.3 percentage points, falling from 64.8 percent in 2007 to 58.5 percent now – even with the strong housing activity the market has seen the last couple years. Furthermore, Boston’s rate is below the national rate, which is currently 62.9 percent.
2. The country’s generations were affected in dramatically different ways when it came to homeownership in Greater Boston:
| Generation | 2007 | 2011 | 2014 | Change in Rate: 2007-2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millennials | 34.8% | 27.7% | 27.1% | -7.8% |
| Gen Xers | 65% | 59.9% | 57.1% | -8% |
| Young Boomers | 74% | 71% | 70.8% | -3.2% |
| Old Boomers | 76.9% | 74.6% | 73.6% | -3.3% |
| Silent Generation | 69.6% | 70.2% | 71.5% | 1.9% |
We have covered the housing woes of Millennials in considerable detail, and Apartment Listing’s analysis shows just how dramatic the housing divide has become between Millennials and older generations. While Millennial homeownership in Greater Boston is down 7.8 percentage points, and is now just 27.1 percent, Older Boomers have seen their homeownership rate fall just 3.3 percentage points to 73.6 percent – meaning that Older Boomers own homes at more than twice the rate of Millennials.
3. The homeownership divide is similarly pronounced along ethnic lines:
| Ethnicity | 2007 | 2011 | 2014 | Change in Rate: 2007-2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| African American | 36% | 34% | 32% | -4.5% |
| Asian | 49% | 47% | 51% | 1.4% |
| Hispanic | 30% | 26% | 25% | -5.7% |
| White | 71% | 68% | 69% | -2% |
At just 25 percent (down 5.7 percentage points), Greater Boston’s Hispanic community has the lowest rate of homeownership, far below the 69 percent of the area’s white population.
Also notable is that African American homeownership remains remarkably low at 32 percent (down 4.5 percentage points).