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held by African Americans. Both African Americans and Latinos already have lower <br />levels of income and wealth and higher unemployment rates than the white community, <br />so the 'impact of these high rates of default and foreclosures is likely to significantly <br />lower their already low levels of homeownership. 'This raises questions about the future <br />efficacy of programs designed to use homeownership as a way to build the wealth of <br />members of these communities. <br />For many Americans who are already homeowners, this means their homes will rise <br />only modestly in real value overtime. This will be especially troublesome for those <br />whose homes are underwater, because it may take them many years to regain equity in <br />their investment. <br />This raises as well the issue of whether homeownership is a good way to build wealth. <br />Some studies show that over the long term, the value of home does not grow as fast <br />as investments in the stock or bond markets, though many ofthese studies do not take <br />