America’s housing affordability squeeze: Black families need 21 years to save for a home

By Charlene Crowell

As costs for gas and groceries continue to rise, the life-long goal of homeownership that builds family wealth is also at severe risk. And once again, historic racial disparities play a prominent role.

It now takes 16 years for renters earning a median income of $58,000 to save for a down payment and closings costs, double that of 2019 when the savings horizon was 8 years according to new research by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), Homeownership Further Out of Reach. This calculation assumes a renter is able to save $1,525 each month to acquire enough funds to make the transition from renter to homeowner.  

The savings barrier is particularly challenging for households with less family and intergenerational wealth. This is especially true for families of color who will form an increasing share of households in the future. The typical Black renter takes even longer – 21 years to save for the same standard upfront costs of homeownership that also include appraisals, escrow, home inspections, title insurance and more. 

Consumers caught in this “housing affordability squeeze” face a 2026 marketplace where the median price of a starter home now costs $335,574 and comes with a 7.24 percent or higher interest rate on a 30-year, fixed rate mortgage loan.

“More renters have been priced out of homeownership for longer, reducing their ability to build wealth, while homeowners have benefited from high home appreciation and many locked in historically low mortgage rates,” said Mike Calhoun, president of CRL and report co-author.

Many housing advocates agree with Calhoun’s assessment.

From July 2025 to July 2026, increased housing costs represented about 40 percent of the overall increase in prices facing U.S. consumers, according to the National Fair Housing Alliance’s most recent report on fair housing trends.

“The people of America are facing a dire fair and affordable housing crisis, marked by rising interest rates, the rollback of hard-won protections that kept creditworthy borrowers from being denied homeownership, skyrocketing rents that burden low- and moderate-income households, and a lack of millions of affordable housing units,” states NFHA’s report.   

Updated Census Bureau data shows that in October, over 46 million households rented their homes. Housing is considered affordable when its monthly cost takes no more than 30 percent of income. In many areas, the supply of affordable housing is far less than its demand. By this measure, substantial middle class annual incomes are required.

An annual salary of $77,320 is needed to afford the $1,933 monthly cost average national cost of a two-bedroom apartment. Even a one-bedroom rental requires $66,680 salary to afford its $1,667 price. Nor do renters know what cost increases may emerge when their current leases expire. 

“The housing crisis is really reaching higher into the middle class,” Marcus Roth, communications director with the Coalition on Homeless and Housing in Ohio, recently noted in an interview. “Elected officials themselves now have their, like, 20- and 30-year-old children living with them. They’re seeing it up close where [their children] can’t afford to buy a place and are struggling to find a new place to rent.

Similarly, the National Association of Realtors’ most recent quarterly report on homeownership and housing vacancy found that the $419,250 national median home listing price of this past September was roughly 27%—or $31,136—less than the typical U.S. household wages earned in 2025.

As a rule, large home down payments free buyers from some fees like private mortgage insurance and enable them to build equity faster.  The conventional 30-year or 15-year fixed rate mortgage remains the least costly one over the life of the loan. Depending on the lender and the borrower, varying down payments can be percentages of 5, 10, 20 or even higher.

Conversely, lower down payments afford a quicker transition to homeownership but come with fees that raise costs over the life of the loan like government-backed loans from the US Department of Agriculture and the Veterans Administration that come with smaller upfront costs. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), that predominantly serves first-time homebuyers, is a popular mortgage choice for its 3.5 percent down payment.

CRL recommends policy reforms that will effectively address the housing affordability crisis including programs to increase the supply of affordable starter homes, and down payment assistance programs that provide opportunities for families to achieve homeownership and its many benefits.

“More renters have been priced out of homeownership for longer, reducing their ability to build wealth, while homeowners have benefited from high home appreciation and many locked in historically low mortgage rates,” added Calhoun. “Policy that makes homeownership more affordable is essential to transform this ‘Tale of Two Cities’ into a shared prosperity.”

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Charlene Crowell is a senior fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached atCharlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.