Brooklyn Homeowners Richer, Whiter After Housing Crisis: Study

BROOKLYN, NEW YOTK -- Brooklyn homeowners have become richer and whiter in the decade following the housing crisis, a new study has found.

The Center for NYC Neighborhoods report, "Affordable Homeownership 10 Years After The Crisis," which was released Wednesday, shows troubling findings for working-class and non-white New Yorkers after the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis.

"As of 2017, New York homeowners tend to be wealthier, older, and whiter than most New Yorkers," analysts wrote. "Most New Yorkers are shut out of homeownership due to rising prices, while many existing homeowners struggle to keep up with housing costs, taxes, and needed repairs."

Analysts linked the rising wealth of New York City homeowner to a "substantial shift" in the racial composition in ownership, and pointed to Brooklyn where white homeownership has spiked.

In 2017, more than half of Brooklyn's homeowners were white (approximately 149,000) while only 67,000 were black, 35,000 were Asian and 22,000 were Hispanic.

The number of black homeowners dropped by 5,000 between 2005 and 2017, the number of Hispanic homeowners dropped 18 percent between 2008 and 2017, and the number of white homeowners grew by 17,000.

And while white and Asian households were more likely to own homes in 2017, black and Hispanic households were more likely to go into foreclosure.

The report argues the shift is the result of black and hispanic homeowners having been targeted for "shady loans" during the crisis, and the "soaring prices and a tight lending environment" of today's New York real estate market.

The number of black Brooklyn homeowners granted home purchase loans plummeted from 2,023 in 2007 to just 720 in 2017, the study found. And just 40 percent of black applicants were approved for refinancing loans in 2017, as compared to 52 percent of white applicants.

The result is that homeownership has become less attainable in Brooklyn, according to the report. In 2017, the median income for mortgage borrowers in Brooklyn was $144,000, more than twice the New York City median income.

Photo by Brian Goodman courtesy of Shutterstock