Black Homes Are Undervalued - Racism at Work

 From Rice Kinder
Institute for Urban Research...

New research shows that 50 years after laws were put in place to stop the use of race in real estate appraisals, homes in neighborhoods of color are still being undervalued.

New research into how a neighborhood’s home values are impacted by its racial composition reveals that appraisals were affected to a larger extent by race in 2015 than in 1980 — to the financial detriment of homeowners in majority-Black and majority-Hispanic neighborhoods.

Using Census Bureau data from 1980–2015, the study from Junia Howell and Elizabeth Korver-Glenn shows that during that period, homes in white neighborhoods appreciated in value, on average, almost $200,000 more than comparable homes in neighborhoods of color.

Primarily, the reason for the large disparity lies in “contemporary appraisal practices,” according to Howell and Korver-Glenn; in particular, “the use of the sales comparison approach has allowed historical racialized appraisals to influence contemporary values and appraisers’ racialized assumptions about neighborhoods to drive appraisal methods.”

Howell, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, and Korver-Glenn, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico — both of whom are former Kinder Scholars — summarized their study for the Conversation:  TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...

PERSONAL OPINION:  I like the idea that people are now recognizing that homes in black neighborhoods are still being undervalued...  and I hope someone of importance realizes what is going on and SEEKS TO CHANGE IT...  Why do I want this changed?

1.  Black should pay higher property taxes just like whites have to pay

2.  Whites have been discriminated against for years by paying higher property taxes

3.  Black neighborhoods are no different than white neighborhoods

4.  Thank you Critical Race Theory

I have been complaining for years about having to pay higher and higher property taxes and the fact that my higher taxes are a result of me being white...  If I was black my home would be undervalued and my property taxes would be less.  Yes, it is true that if and when I decided to sell my home, I would not get a higher price for it, but I do not plan to ever sell my home so that point is irrelevant.

Finally, I feel blessed and extremely fortunate that the BLM movement has finally brought this to our attention and I hope that someone somewhere finally does something about it.  My black neighbors have been skating through lower taxes for years and it is time that they finally get assessed properly...