ATLANTA, Ga. – Black homebuyers are obstructed by systemic racism and economic factors like high interest rates and investor purchases. But speakers at the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) Black Wealth Summit were enthusiastic about the progress, insisting that the journey towards homeownership and generational wealth is worth pursuing.
The summit at Clark Atlanta University on Nov. 15 was a platform for housing policy and lending, including forums on NAREB-commissioned studies. This year, sessions addressed the 2024 State of Housing in Black America (SHIBA) report and a study on appraisal bias and the impact of recent government and private sector efforts to curtail it. The homeownership rate among Black households was 45.7% in 2023, a sharp contrast to the 74.3% among White households and a significant drop from its peak of 49% in 2004.
“We are working really hard to make sure that we’re continuing to reduce barriers to credit and expand access to credit,” said Acting HUD Secretary Adrianne Todman, noting that the work done to “sustain generational wealth” will continue. “We have helped three million American families become first-time homebuyers. When you think about the context of what’s happening in our home ownership ecosystem, (then) you know that was hard fought.”
Moreover, Todman asserted that HUD had sent Congress a strong report on the Federal Housing Administration fund.
