Black America’s Housing Landscape Explored in State of Housing Report

The 2023 State of Housing in Black America report highlights persistent barriers to homeownership, even amid low Black unemployment and increased labor force participation. Conducted by the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), the report emphasizes a significant shortage of new homes, exacerbating the ongoing housing crisis for potential Black buyers. The housing demand consistently surpasses new construction by approximately 100,000 units annually, resulting in the most substantial housing shortfall in nearly 50 years. This scarcity contributes to sustained high prices despite elevated interest rates.

NAREB President Courtney Johnson Rose stressed the urgent need to augment housing inventories nationwide. The scarcity of available homes and artificially inflated prices due to a tight market hinder families, especially Black households, from purchasing homes. Rose advocates for key players in the housing finance industry, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to play a pivotal role in fostering new home construction and the rehabilitation of existing homes.

According to the latest data from the 2022 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), the Black homeownership rate in 2022 stood at 45%, nearly 30% lower than White households, marking a wider gap than recorded 50 years ago. The report also unveils the staggering Black-White wealth gap, where the 400 wealthiest Americans possess the same amount of wealth as the 48 million Blacks residing in the United States.

Rose identified various barriers to enhancing Black homeownership nationwide, encompassing lower wealth and median incomes, unfavorable housing market conditions, and institutional biases within the housing finance system. The report underscores the critical need for comprehensive and targeted interventions to address these systemic challenges and promote equitable access to homeownership for Black communities.