In the thick of a housing crisis, is Austin's real estate market racially equitable?
AUSTIN (KXAN)— According to researchers, there are systemic factors that affect racial equality in real estate.
On Wednesday, the Urban Land Institute, or ULI, in Austin led a discussion, its panelists discussing 10 guiding principles ULI compiled for developers, investors and others. These principles set out to make living more equitable for Black and brown communities.
"The 10 Principles for Embedding Racial Equity in Real Estate Development reflect ULI’s response to member calls for guidance on equitable development and the role the real estate industry has played in creating and perpetuating injustices, as well as workshop participants’ expertise and experiences, and ULI’s mission to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide," a ULI report said.
According the the ULI report, there are land use policies and practices that have created racial segregation. These practices have had a role in shaping inequalities in real estate that still exist today.
A portion of the ULI report said:
During much of the 20th century, real estate practices and policies used race and immigration status to segregate communities, both implicitly and explicitly. Even after redlining, exclusionary zoning, and racial covenants were no longer legal, the threat of violence continued to enforce these patterns. Because Black families were often excluded from opportunities for homeownership, they were not afforded opportunities to accumulate equity in their homes, the greatest source of generational wealth in this country. The impact has been catastrophic. In 2016, the average wealth of Black families was a 10th that of white families. Researchers estimate that at the current rate of convergence, it will take 228 years for Black wealth to catch up with white wealth.
ULI report
In Austin specifically, communities are still recovering from redlining and segregated public housing practices that set back communities financially.
This story will be updated by Reporter Jala Washington.