UCI

Three in 10 renters (29%) and half of homeowners (49%) pay more than $1,000 a month for housing. The proportion of renters paying more than $1,000 a month is up 4 points from 1999, while the proportion of homeowners paying more than $1,000 is unchanged. However, one in four pay more than $1,500 a month in mortgages, up 6 points from 1999.

South County residents are more likely than North County residents to own a home (72% to 60%) and to pay more than $1,000 a month for rent (55% to 22%) and $1,000 a month in mortgages (60% to 44%). North County residents are more likely to live in apartments, while South County residents are more likely to live in attached dwellings. Similar numbers of residents in both regions are living in single-family homes.

There are some important differences between racial and ethnic groups. Non-Hispanic whites are considerably more likely than Latinos to own a home (72% to 35%), to live in single- family homes (58% to 35%), and to pay more than $1,000 per month in rent (39% to 17%). Forty-two percent of Latinos live in apartments, and about two-thirds are renters. There are not enough Latino homeowners in the sample to separately analyze their monthly mortgage costs.

Note: for this study, renters are broadly defined as those renting apartments, attached homes, mobile homes or single-family homes.