The US has, for the most part, recovered from the housing crisis that sent the economy reeling in 2008. However, as The Washington Post notes, the recovery has been deeply uneven. And the winners and losers tend to come down along race, income and geography lines. In many cities the housing market’s changes have deepened disparities between the rich and everyone else.
The High Plains is part of a wide swath of the country, stretching from Texas to the northwest, where housing values have increased the most. That can be good news, as increased value converts income into wealth. “It turns . . . into thenext generation’s inheritance.”
But in cities where housing rates are dropping, homes have become a source of debt. Minority neighborhoods have suffered the most since the recovery. Zip codes where blacks are the largest population are twice as likely as white zip codes to have homes worth less than they were 12 years ago.