Older Blacks and Latinos Hit Hardest by Foreclosure Crisis
According to a new report by AARP, more than 1.5 million older Americans have already lost their homes. Among older Americans, blacks and Latinos 
have been hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis.
“The Great Recession has been brutal for many older Americans,” said Debra Whitman, AARP’s policy chief. “This shows that home ownership doesn’t guarantee financial security later in life.”
From the AARP report:
- About 600,000 people who are 50 years or older are in foreclosure.
- About 625,000 in the same age group are at least three months behind on their mortgages.
- About 3.5 million — 16 percent of older homeowners — are underwater, meaning their home values have gone down and they now owe more than their homes are worth.
Over the past five years, the number of older homeowners who are delinquent on their mortgages has risen 450 percent. And the foreclosure rate among older black borrowers is nearly double that of white borrowers:
The study also examines foreclosure rates by race/ethnicity, income bracket, and prime and subprime loan type. Foreclosure rates of African American and Hispanic borrowers age 50 and older were 3.5 percent and 3.9 percent on prime loans respectively in 2011, nearly double that of white borrowers (1.9 percent). Foreclosure rates on subprime loans are markedly higher: as of 2011, among those age 50 and older, Hispanics had the highest foreclosure rate at 14.1 percent; Asians 13.9 percent, whites 12.8 percent, and African Americans 11.5 percent.
According to AARP’s analysis, older Americans are in the worst position to bounce back from the Great Recession, partly because those who re-enter the workforce can’t command a job with a good salary since so many younger Americans are also out of work.
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