NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Home foreclosures are rising, especially for minority homeowners, according to a published report.

The New York Times reports that the rate of black home ownership fell slightly in 2005, to 48.8 percent, from 49.7 percent in 2004, and that some studies suggest that an increase in home foreclosures for minority borrowers could be a reason.

It also reported that home foreclosures among minority homeowners could rise further in coming years due to rising interest rates and the greater use of so-called subprime loans, which charge a higher interest rate, by those borrowers.

The newspaper said the race of borrowers is not available on foreclosure documents, but studies that compare foreclosure rates to the racial makeup of the neighborhoods where the foreclosures are taking place suggest that the rate is rising higher for minority homeowners.

For example, the newspaper reports that a study by Cleveland State University researchers found that in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, which includes Cleveland, the ratio of auctions to regular sales was 23 per 100 last year in the eastern portion of the county, which is 52 percent black and 7 percent Hispanic. That's up from nine foreclosures per 100 regular sales in that area in 1995. By comparison in the western portion of the county, which is 82 percent white, the ratio was 11 foreclosures per 100 homes sold, up from 2.5, according to the Times report.

The newspaper also reports that in Chicago the number of foreclosures has tripled since 1993, and that neighborhoods where the population is more than 80 percent non-white account for 65 percent of all cases, up from 61 percent in 1993.

The newspaper reports that the Mortgage Bankers Association plays down the severity of foreclosures, noting that most new minority homeowners are doing well and some other statistics show foreclosure are becoming less of a problem, not more. The trade group estimates that fewer than 1 percent of all loans were in foreclosure in the three months that ended last September, down from 1.5 percent in 2002. For subprime loans, the foreclosure rate was 3.3 percent, down from 8 percent in 2002, the newspaper reports.

_______________

For the risks involved in buying a foreclosed home, click here.

For more on the real estate market and what it means for you and the economy, click here.