Finding the money to buy a first home has become a challenge for all would-be homeowners. But the once wide gap between Black and White families able to do so has narrowed in the last few years as home prices and mortgage rates have taken off, putting both groups at a disadvantage.

In 2022, the gap between White and Black families with sufficient income to afford a mortgage fell to 4.7 percentage points – a significant drop compared to the 7.9 percentage point gap ten years prior.

"This is because the proportion of mortgage-ready white families has decreased more dramatically during that time period – down from 34.6% in 2012. The change did not come from a disproportionately larger increase in homeownership among white families that caused the mortgage-ready share of white families to decrease more significantly," Zillow stated.