US moves backward amid steps to close racial gap in homeownership

Boston Globe

19-02-2025

Housing experts say it doesn't have to be that way. The road to homeownership runs uphill for many prospective buyers, but for those of color, the grade is steeper. The good news is: with hard work, discipline, patience, and the right coaching, many renters who don't think they can achieve their goal of becoming homeowners actually can, giving them access to the many financial benefits of owning property.
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Bob Credle is the director of community programs for
Credle and his colleagues look at the prospective buyers' overall financial picture and coach them on how to save money, improve their credit scores, and get low-rate mortgages and down payment assistance. Many of their successful clients were people who thought they could never own a home because they just didn't know where to turn for help.
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'We're able to help a lot of people get into down payment-assistance programs, [like] the
OneUnited, one of the largest Black-owned banks in the country, recently launched a
'As counselors, we're taking money from a lot of different sources to patch together a down payment with whatever they've saved,' Luc said. 'Maybe it's the minimum to actually get into the market. They find a property, and now there's even more cost that's involved for repairs to get the property. It makes it very, very difficult.'
David Gasser, programs director at the
'We have generational wealth being created by those who had access to homeownership,' Gasser said. 'And all the economic benefit that comes from that system perpetuates itself, and unless you're going to create the supply necessary to create affordable new entry points, it's going to be very difficult to narrow the racial homeownership gap.'
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The SHIBA report found homes in majorityBlack neighborhoods are more likely to be appraised for less money than similar homes in majoritywhite neighborhoods. This can have a cascading effect, as homes that are appraised for less than they are worth might sell for less than they are worth, bringing down the value of neighboring properties.
'The appraisal bias issue is a very stark example of a complicated problem, because those appraisals are so individual and the way appraisers are trained and regulated is somewhat difficult to address, but we do participate in some of those efforts,' Gasser said.
Melvin A. Vieira Jr. of
He said many of his clients of color come from families that never owned a home, so growing up, they never heard anything about the home-buying process and had no one to ask about it. He said people like himself and organizations like Urban Edge and MAHA can't reach enough people by themselves to narrow the racial homeownership gap. He said an updated version of the old home economics course should be part of every public high school curriculum.
'It's not about cooking and cleaning; it should be talking about checkbooks, talking about savings,' he said. 'They should explain how interest works and how to invest in the stock market. How to make yourself financially fit so you can achieve your financial goals after you leave high school. Because the majority of people who come out of high school don't even have a checking account.
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'If you give a person knowledge, it can't be taken away,' he said. 'When you teach a person how to fish, they'll always know how to fish.'
Jim Morrison can be reached at
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