Black homeowners across the U.S. and Philly region gained the least wealth from their properties over the last decade

Owning a home is the way most U.S. households build wealth, especially those with lower incomes.

How much wealth households gain through home price appreciation depends on location, initial price, length of time in the home, and homeowners’ race, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors released this week.

Nationally, a median-priced home is worth $190,000 more now than it was a decade ago.

Black homeowners saw the smallest wealth gains over the last decade among racial groups. Asian homeowners, who as a group own more expensive homes than any other, saw the largest wealth gains, according to the report.

» READ MORE: Education and transparency can help eliminate racial bias in home appraisals, a Philly task force says

Nationwide, Black homeowners accumulated more than $115,000 in wealth, compared to more than $239,000 for Asian homeowners, more than $160,000 for Hispanic homeowners, and more than $138,000 for white homeowners.

Property values tend to grow over time, and Black homeowners tend to stay in their homes longer than owners in other racial groups, according to the report. But they also typically own homes that cost almost $64,000 less than white homeowners, for example, so they stand to gain less wealth from their homes.

Some reasons for this include decades of governmental and societal racial discrimination in housing, racial disparities in property appraisals, disinvestment in Black communities, and Black households’ lower incomes and levels of family wealth.

Nationwide, low-income homeowners gained $98,900 in wealth in the last decade through home price appreciation. Middle-income households accumulated $122,100 in wealth. And upper-income households accumulated $150,800.

The report defines low-income as no more than 80% of the area median income ($75,900 for a household of three in the Philadelphia region), middle-income as between 80% and 200% of the area median income ($189,800 for a three-person household), and upper-income as more than 200% of the area median income.

» READ MORE: Income for Black Philly households is stagnant. For everyone else, it’s up almost 25% since 2010.

Wealth gains among homeowners in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, which includes Camden and Wilmington, didn’t vary as much by income level as they did nationwide or in other metro areas.

Across the 200 largest metro areas, middle-income homeowners’ wealth gains ranged from $20,660 to $642,760.

» READ MORE: Philly-area homeowners are building wealth quickly, thanks to rising prices

Homeowners saw the biggest wealth gains in expensive metro areas, regardless of income level. The top 10 places where middle-income homeowners had the largest wealth gains from home ownership were all in California.

Low-income households tend to stay in their homes longer than households with higher incomes, according to the report. But the median low-income household’s home is worth $65,000 less than homes owned by the typical middle-income household.