Homeownership has been billed as a way to generate wealth for American families, but a new study shows blacks don’t reap the same financial rewards from owning homes as whites.
Owner-occupied homes in majority black neighborhoods are consistently sold or appraised at an average of $48,000 less nationwide than comparable homes in white neighborhoods, according to a new study from Brookings Institution and Gallup reported by Curbed.
That amounts to $156 billion in lost value for African-American homeowners.
The report, titled “The devaluation of assets in black neighborhoods: The case of residential property,” shows homes with similar features are valued at 23 percent less in black neighborhoods compared to areas with few black residents.
While majority black neighborhoods studied in the report show signs of disinvestment like inadequate public transportation and underperforming schools, such factors only explain about half of the undervaluation, the study’s authors said. The rest can be chalked up to “anti-black bias,” the report said.
The report is the latest showing black Americans face discrimination in housing.
Despite the overall denial rate for mortgage applications being the lowest in 20 years, black applicants are still twice as likely as whites to get denied for mortgages. Minority homeowners also have been the recipients of a disproportionate number of subprime loans. [Curbed] — Joe Ward