Over the last two years, there has been much discussion of a national “reckoning” on race. There can be no complete reckoning without strong analysis and substantive action to address the economic marginalization of Native Americans in 21st century America.
Through years of intentional governmental policies that took away their lands and resources, American Indians have been separated from the wealth and assets that were rightfully theirs. Today, we see a consistent lack of information on Native Americans and their socioeconomic issues.
Our organization, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, recently released a Native American Racial Wealth Divide Snapshot that examines data on social economic indicators like homeownership, poverty rate, and education attainment for Native Americans.
Source: National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the homeownership rate for Native Americans in 2017 was at 50.8 percent, which is higher than for Black and Latino populations, but is still substantially lower than the non-Hispanic white homeownership rate of 72.3 percent.
This 2017 Native American homeownership rate was one of the lowest since the enactment of the Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program of the Housing and Community Development Act in 1992. That Act enables Native Americans to purchase homes with extremely low down payments and covers the lender in full in the event of a foreclosure.
Prior to its passage, according to the 1990 Census, Native American homeownership was 47.2 percent. In 2005 and 2006, Native Americans experienced a record-high 58.2 percent homeownership rate, but by 2016, this has decreased to a low of 47.6 percent. While the Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program apparently has provided a boost to Native American homeownership, there is still much work to do to advance homeownership rates.
