Tag Archives: race

Redfin to Host Symposium on Race and Real Estate in Seattle on September 6

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Author and Professor Elizabeth Korver-Glenn to Headline Keynote Discussion with Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman Based on New Research from Korver-Glenn

Seattle, WA – Aug. 24, 2018 (PRNewswire) (NASDAQ: RDFN) Redfin (www.redfin.com), the next-generation real estate brokerage, is hosting a symposium about race and real estate, exploring how the real estate industry can support fair access to housing. The event will take place in Seattle on Thursday, September 6 from 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm PST, at the Redfin Seattle headquarters at 1099 Stewart Street. The event is free to the public, but space is limited. Sign up here to be added to the waitlist. Press are invited to attend in person. The event will also be livestreamed on Redfin’s blog and by Inman News.

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Professor Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, author of ground-breaking studies on race and the real estate industry, will discuss what she learned following ten Houston real estate agents for a year. She will share insights from her study, Brokering Ties and Inequality: How White Real Estate Agents Recreate Advantage and Exclusion in Urban Housing Markets.

The symposium will also feature panel discussions with homebuyers and agents about their real estate experiences as people of color. The panel of Redfin real estate agents includes Lori Bakken, James Li, and Roderick Story, and will be moderated by Daneisha Brazzle.

“Redfin has long been an advocate for hiring a diverse group of agents, so we can be effective advocates for all types people buying and selling homes,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. “But anyone who has driven through most American cities knows that, fifty years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, our neighborhoods still aren’t completely integrated. We as a brokerage want to do better, because we aren’t just selling cell phones or suede shoes, we’re helping people move to better schools and jobs, to neighborhoods where kids can have a different future. This symposium is part of a larger program to take that responsibility very seriously.”

Kelman announced the symposium in a talk he delivered about race and real estate at Inman Connect, a real estate industry event. Kelman summarizes Professor Korver-Glenn’s research and discusses the company’s approach to racial equality in his essay, A More Perfect Union: Why Cities Are Still Racially Divided And What We As Real Estate Brokers Can Do About It.

Redfin is working to ensure that the internet helps agents of all races succeed, connecting customers and agents of different races and introducing consumers to neighborhoods they would not have considered otherwise. A large part of Redfin’s efforts will be continuing to increase diversity among all Redfin employees, including real estate agents, support staff and software engineers. The race and ethnicity of Redfin real estate agents does not yet reflect that of the communities the company serves. However, the Redfin field organization is more diverse than the industry, and people of color are well-represented among the company’s most highly paid agents.

Following the symposium, Redfin will host town hall discussions in our local markets to continue the conversation and share ideas about how we can foster diversity and better serve people of color in our local communities. Redfin will make these materials available on the Redfin blog, so that others in the real estate industry can host their own events and encourage a broader dialogue.

Join the discussion on social media: #RaceandRealEstate.

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer’s favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country’s #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the automated home-value estimate with the industry’s lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro areas across the U.S. The company has closed more than $60 billion in home sales.

Mortgage Denial Rates Fall, but Racial Gap Persists: Black Applicants Twice as Likely as Whites to be Denied a Conventional Loan

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Suburban applicants are more likely to be approved for a conventional loan than borrowers in urban or rural areas

Seattle, WA – April 19, 2018 (PRNewswire) Mortgage applications are denied at the lowest rate in the past 20 years, yet a stark divide remains between potential homebuyers of different racial groups.

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Nationally, the share of applicants who are denied for conventional mortgages has fallen to 9.8 percent, according to data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), down from 18.1 percent in 2007.

Even though a smaller share of loan applicants overall are denied, white or Asian borrowers are more likely to be approved for a mortgage than black or Hispanic borrowers. In 2016, 8.1 percent of white applicants were denied for a conventional loan, as were 10.4 percent of Asian applicants. By comparison, 20.9 percent of black borrowers and 15.5 percent of Hispanic borrowers were turned down for a loan.

For all groups, denial rates are down sharply from 2007. In 2007, 34.3 percent of black applicants and 30 percent of Hispanic applicants were denied for mortgages. White and Asian borrowers were denied 12.7 percent and 16.2 percent of the time, respectively.

The persistent disparity among races also is evident in homeownership. The gap between black and white homeownership rates was slightly wider in 2016 than it was in 1900i. Black homebuyers had the least purchasing power last year – they could afford 55 percent of homes for sale, while white homebuyers could buy about 78 percent of listed homesii. And while coming up with a down payment is the biggest hurdle to homeownership for all potential buyers, black Americans were more likely than those of other races to say qualifying for a mortgage was a barrieriii.

“Mortgage approval data point to both progress and stubborn inequities in the American housing market,” said Zillow® Senior Economist Aaron Terrazas. “By some measures, the gap in mortgage approval rates between whites and blacks is as narrow as it has ever been. However, black mortgage applicants are still more than twice as likely as whites to be denied, a visible legacy of historical discriminatory policies. For the large majority of home buyers, getting approved for a loan is the first step on the road to homeownership, and these continued disparities represent an ongoing barrier to housing and social equity in America.”

For all racial and ethnic groups, borrowers in suburban areas had the best chances of being approved for a mortgage – 8.4 percent of suburban homebuyers were denied for a loan, while 10 percent of urban borrowers and 11.5 percent of rural borrowers were turned down.

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Zillow is the leading real estate and rental marketplace dedicated to empowering consumers with data, inspiration and knowledge around the place they call home, and connecting them with the best local professionals who can help. In addition, Zillow operates an industry-leading economics and analytics bureau led by Zillow’s Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell. Dr. Gudell and her team of economists and data analysts produce extensive housing data and research covering more than 450 markets at Zillow Real Estate Research. Zillow also sponsors the quarterly Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey, which asks more than 100 leading economists, real estate experts and investment and market strategists to predict the path of the Zillow Home Value Index over the next five years. Launched in 2006, Zillow is owned and operated by Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z and ZG), and headquartered in Seattle.

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(i) https://www.zillow.com/research/homeownership-gap-widens-19384/
(ii) https://www.zillow.com/research/affordable-home-listings-by-race-19419/
(iii) Zillow Housing Aspirations Report, September 2017