The Seattle Times
Washington households including nonwhite households saw an increase in homeownership rates over the past decade. But housing affordability issues kept the state’s gains well below the national average.
The state’s homeownership rate was nearly 64% in 2023, up just 2 percentage points from 2013, according to an analysis by the National Association of REALTORS® released Monday. The rate lagged the national average of 65.2%. The homeownership rate refers to the percentage of homes that are owner-occupied.
The homeownership rate for the state’s Black and Hispanic households inched up 4.6 and 5.5 percentage points in the 10-year period, according to the analysis, but remained far from narrowing the gap with white and Asian households.
While Washington’s Black and Hispanic homeownership rates were 34% and 47%, respectively, in 2023, white and Asian household homeownership rates were 68% and 63.5%, respectively.
Homeownership rates for white, Black and Hispanic households were all lower than the national average for these racial groups, while the rate for Asian households in Washington was roughly even with the national average for this group, according to NAR.
“Housing affordability remains a major challenge in Washington, particularly in urban areas like Seattle, where high prices make it difficult for many renters, especially Hispanic and Black households,” said NAR’s senior analyst Nadia Evangelou in an interview Wednesday.