The Interaction between Race and Nativity on the Housing Market: Homeownership and House Value of Black Immigrants in the United States

Abstract

There is extensive research investigating race and nativity disparities in the US housing market, but little focuses on the group representing the intersection of the two literatures. This study investigates whether black immigrants are disadvantaged due to racial stratification or are able to leverage human or ethnic capital into positive housing market outcomes compared to US-born blacks. I find that racial stratification affects the housing market outcomes of black immigrants. However, high homeownership and house value relative to US-born blacks suggest that immigrants are able to use ethnic community capital to avoid some of the disadvantage experienced by native-born blacks.