Owning a home is the most valuable asset for most Americans, and is the key to building wealth, creating opportunity and passing that wealth to the next generation. However, our nation’s long history of government-sponsored, racist policies such as redlining, discriminatory lending practices, blockbusting, and the destruction of Black neighborhoods (and wealth) in the name of urban renewal, have denied Black residents the same homeownership opportunities as white residents.
According to 2019 Census Bureau data, the homeownership rate among white non-Hispanic Americans was 73.3%, compared to 42.1% among Black Americans – the largest gap since the Census time series data began in 1994. This 31.2% difference in homeownership has contributed to a racial wealth gap that, as of 2016, placed the average net worth for a white family as $171,000, nearly ten times greater than the average net worth of a Black family, which was $17,150.
Northern Virginia is an expensive market for home purchase. Programs that support low-income homebuyers have received less attention and resources as the need for affordable rental housing has increased. The conventional wisdom was that homeownership was just not attainable for lower income households. However, responding to the stark wealth gap between white and Black households, elected officials across the region have elevated the priority of homeownership as a key objective to address income and racial disparities rooted in land use patterns that inhibit homeownership opportunities for people of color.
Earlier this year, we partnered with the Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, to conduct an in-depth analysis of this topic for a Northern Virginia community. A team of four graduate students accepted our proposal to research homeownership opportunities for a diverse population along the Route 7 corridor in Fairfax County. We are pleased to release the final report “Bailey’s Crossroads & Seven Corners: Assessing Opportunities for Affordable Homeownership.”
The study identifies existing types and price points of housing available for purchase. This corridor shares characteristics common to much of the Northern Virginia region, principally traditional suburban and auto-centric land use and zoning patterns that are ill-equipped to meet the housing and infrastructure demands of a diverse and growing population and economy. The report is clear in demonstrating the challenges to purchasing a home, especially for people of color, but also lays out recommendations that build upon existing strategies to expand homeownership.
The homeownership gap forces us to acknowledge the racist legacy of our land use and zoning policies and calls us to have ‘courageous conversations’ that confront our increasingly segregated communities. We hope that this report contributes to a more thorough understanding of this issue within the broader Northern Virginia community and among our elected officials, and will be a springboard for action.