March 19, 2025 Story by: Editor
A panel discussion at South by Southwest shed light on the challenges Black communities in Austin face, particularly for those who do not already own valuable residential property. During the session, Advancing Black Homeownership Through Housing Equity, Habitat for Humanity International CEO Jonathan Reckford used Austin as an example of how skyrocketing housing markets can leave renters behind.
“Austin actually is a really interesting example of all the arrows moving in the right direction if you already owned a home, but disastrously wrong if you didn’t,” Reckford said, referring to his experience advising prospective homeowners in the Austin area. “Housing prices are up 250 percent in the last five years, so there’s a real gap between what it costs to acquire a home and what you can afford.”
The panelists discussed how families without homeownership miss out on opportunities to build wealth, while communities suffer from reduced reinvestment when residents are locked out of property ownership.
The Impact of Undervalued Black Neighborhoods
Andre Perry, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, presented research illustrating how homes in Black neighborhoods are consistently undervalued. This disparity has resulted in a staggering $156 billion loss in equity nationwide, limiting wealth-building for individuals and depriving communities of crucial investments in businesses, education, and infrastructure. Perry emphasized that homeownership is a key predictor of life expectancy, economic mobility, and municipal investment.
“Without question, in every model we ran, homeownership was in the top three (indicators). Certainly, there was income, and education and a lot of other things, but when you live in a geographic area where homeownership is over 65 to 75 percent, life expectancy is pretty relatively normal to other groups. But when it’s below that, it is not,” Perry explained. “Homeownership is connected to education, it’s connected to how many resources your county and municipality has for basic services.”
Overcoming Barriers to Homeownership
One of the biggest challenges for Black homebuyers, according to Daniel Gura, executive director for Habitat for Humanity International, is the lack of awareness about eligibility. He noted that many potential homeowners mistakenly assume they do not qualify due to historical mistrust of financial institutions or a lack of outreach from banks. To combat this, Gura said Habitat for Humanity spends up to 18 months providing education and resources to help new homeowners understand the responsibilities of property ownership.
“A lot of people who are eligible and ready to be homeowners just don’t know, right? They don’t know because they either haven’t trusted banks or banks aren’t talking to them and they don’t know that in fact they’re ready,” Gura said. “The first thing is, do you get comfortable with this idea that you are worthy, eligible and able to own a home in perpetuity? That’s a scary thing for some marginalized communities.”
Policy and Investment Solutions
The panelists agreed that addressing Black homeownership disparities requires increased investment, policy reforms, and zoning changes to support the development of more affordable housing. Perry stressed that years of underfunding in Black communities have exacerbated housing inequities, stating, “nothing grows without investment.”
Reckford underscored that homeownership is about more than just building individual wealth—it plays a vital role in stabilizing communities, improving schools, and fostering civic engagement.
“There are great opportunities in these communities but the problem is so much of the wealth is extracted. The people who own the land and the units don’t live in the community, so the very high rents per square foot are actually going out rather than revolving in the community,” he said. “At a time where we’ve underbuilt housing for the last 12 years in some of the most historically marginalized communities, you have a different challenge with investors. They’re just sitting on land because they’re seeing acceleration but they’re not investing or fixing up or doing anything with it.”
As housing costs continue to soar in cities like Austin, discussions like this highlight the urgent need for solutions that promote Black homeownership and ensure long-term community investment.
Source: Austin Monitor
