Drawing from the 2019 release of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) State of Housing in Black America (SHIBA) report, not only is the rate of Black homeownership falling, the gap between Black and Non-Hispanic White households today is larger than it was in 1968. NAREB, the country’s oldest professional minority real estate trade association.

“What NAREB has anecdotally known and now can pinpoint are the systemic blockages and traps that for decades thwarted the right of Black Americans to become homeowners,” said Donnell Williams. The Latest U.S. Census Bureau data reported the Black homeownership rate at 40.6%. During the same time period (2nd qtr. 2019), the non-Hispanic White rate of 73.1% was charted. The difference between the Black and White homeownership rate is 32.5%.

Black homeownership is more than 7 percentage points below its peak, achieved in 2004, of just under 50 percent. Debt-to-income ratio was the most common reason for denial reported for Black applicants; followed by credit history.

The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) was formed in 1947 to secure the right to equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed or color. Port Of Harlem advertiser Ivan Brown, owner of Ivan Brown Realty, is a member of NAREB.