1970-2017: The Depressing Decline in Black Home Ownership Rates in Oregon and City of Portland.

A recent story in the Oregonian about changes in minority home ownership in the Portland metro area and the City of Portland prompted me to take a longer term dive into historical 1970-2017 black home ownership data for the City of Portland and Oregon. The picture that emerges is depressing. 

The 2 page PDF HERE and embedded below has a graph and a table for Oregon and the City of Portland on black households by tenure and home ownership rates for 1970,1980,1990,2010, and 2017. 

The first page graph shows the declining rate of home ownership. 

The table on the second page shows detailed percentage and numerical changes in black homeowners and renters, and home ownership rates for two periods: 1970-2017 (17 years) and 2000-2017 (47 years). 

Observations:

City of Portland

• In 1970 the black home ownership rate in the City of Portland was 46.9%; In 2017 the City of Portland rate was 28.4% That's a decline of 39.5% (18.5 "points").
• In 47 years the City of Portland added a total of 757 black home owners, about 16 a year. 
• During the same period the City added 6,236 black renter households. 
• So, for every 100 black home owners added the City added 824 black renter households. (6,236/757*100= 824).

State of Oregon

• In 1970 the statewide Oregon black home ownership rate was  44.7%; In 2017 it was 32.2%, a decline of 28% (12.5 "points").
• In 47 years the state added a total of 4,868 black home owners, about 104 a year. 
• During the same period the state added 13,246 black renter households. 
• So, for every 100 black home owners added the state added 272 black renter households. (13,246/4,868*100= 272).
• In 2010 and 2017 the statewide black home ownership rate was HIGHER than it was in the City of Portland. [2010 Oregon 32.9.%/City of Portland 32.4%; 2017 Oregon 32.2%/City of Portland 28.4%].

Data Sources: I used Census General Housing Characteristics reports for Oregon (1970,1980, and 1990) and American Fact Finder (for 2000,2010, and 2017 data).  

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.