The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) collaborates with the Church Of God In Christ, Inc. (COGIC) and other partner organizations to host National Building Black Wealth Day on April 13. In more than 100 cities across the United States, seminars and one-on-one sessions will empower communities with steps towards homeownership, property investment, starting a business, and other wealth-building opportunities. To register for a local event in your area, click HERE.
The local wealth-building events will coincide with COGIC’s Presiding Bishop’s 100-City Community Impact Day. The Church Of God In Christ, a Christian organization in the Holiness-Pentecostal tradition, is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Other NAREB partners include the African American Mayors Association, the National Bar Association, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.
At the local events, one-on-one counseling will be available with NAREB members (Realtists), lawyers, housing counselors, and lenders. The HUD-approved NID Housing Counseling Agency will provide free credit reports and counseling to consumers in all 100 cities on April 13, Building Black Wealth Day. The goal of the event is to give Black residents the information they need to build wealth and get answers to questions like how to buy a home. How do you deal with property after the death of a loved one? How to improve your credit score?
“The NAREB Black Wealth Tour events are helping Black families recognize and embark on paths towards gaining wealth,” said Marcus Brown, a NAREB board member from Birmingham. “We are urging families to attend so they can learn more about how to position themselves to become homeowners and gain wealth.”
Moreover, virtual sessions, counseling, and online conversations will be accessible to a national audience. Please register for those HERE.
“We are thrilled to coordinate with our partners,” said Dr. Courtney Johnson Rose, NAREB’s President. She added that National Building Black Wealth Day is part of the organization’s historic Building Black Wealth Tour initiative, which is hosting wealth-building events in cities throughout the country over the next two years.
“African Americans and other communities of color must have pathways to building wealth,” Dr. Rose said. “The immense racial wealth gap is a fundamental cause of inequities in American society. Our Building Black Wealth Tour is helping families and individuals create family economic security through becoming homeowners and other wealth-building tools.”
Further, COGIC Presiding Bishop J. Drew Sheard said, “The Church Of God In Christ is thrilled by the opportunity to collaborate with NAREB on the 100 City Community Impact Day. This partnership embodies the spirit of unity and service that defines our church. Together, we will open our doors, hearts, and minds to provide essential resources, including facilities, prayer tents, and mental health support, to uplift and empower our communities. Through our collective efforts, we will sow the seeds of hope, healing, and transformation, leaving an indelible mark on the lives of those we serve.”
Calling the nation’s wealth gap “intolerable,” Dr. Rose noted that NAREB’s 2023 State of Housing in Black America Report (SHIBA) found that the 400 wealthiest Americans control the same wealth as all 48 million Blacks in the United States. The Federal Reserve acknowledges that, on average, Black families own about 24 cents for every $1 of White family wealth. And Brookings, the widely respected think-tank, says Whites have a median family wealth of $171,000, compared to $17,600 for Blacks.
“The disparity has widened over time, perpetuating systemic poverty in communities of color,” said Dr. Rose. “Closing the racial wealth gap is essential for achieving true racial equality and has positive effects on American society. With greater economic equality, studies show lower crime levels, better health outcomes, higher social trust, and less divisiveness. Building Black wealth can contribute to a more equitable society, promote upward mobility and social equality, and foster economic stability and growth. “
Homeownership is the primary driver of Black wealth and a Fannie Mae survey found that 89% of all Black renters intend to own a home in the future.
Yet, the 2023 SHIBA report noted that Black homeownership was at 45%, nearly 30% lower than White households, with a wider gap than 50 years ago. The disparity significantly impacts the accumulation of wealth within the Black community. When Black homeownership stagnates or drops, Black families have fewer wealth-building opportunities. Thus, the most effective path toward building wealth is increasing Black homeownership.
NAREB aggressively seeks to bolster Black homeownership with initiatives that can connect with the more than two million African American mortgage-ready renters who are not yet homeowners and other families and individuals in communities. Freddie Mac tracks the number of “mortgage-ready” renters nationwide, defining them as those who can meet certain income and credit requirements to qualify for a mortgage. Their researchers determined that as of January 2021, two million Blacks ages 45 or younger are near mortgage-ready, while another 3.4 million are potentially mortgage-ready.
NAREB’s National Building Black Wealth Day activities and the organization’s other initiatives seek to reach mortgage-ready families, individuals, and others to help them overcome historical challenges to Black homeownership, such as discriminatory lending practices and unequal access to wealth-building opportunities.
Clearly, potential Black home buyers need accurate information: 45% of Black consumers do not know how much down payment is required for a home, according to Fannie Mae’s 2023 Black Housing Journey. In addition to lower average credit scores and fewer available funds, many Black consumers are also generally unfamiliar with mortgage requirements and may be harmed by that lack of knowledge. When Blacks are surveyed, many erroneously blame credit scores for their mortgage denials, but HMDA data show high debt-to-income ratios as the leading culprit.
Another issue NAREB’s Black Wealth Tour hopes to address is the decline in Black millennials purchasing homes.
NAREB’s 2022 State of Housing in Black America (SHIBA)report found that Black millennials today purchase homes at lower rates than previous generations of Black millennials and millennials from other racial and ethnic groups. Their study found that as Blacks near age 40, they have a homeownership rate about ten percentage points lower than that of Black Gen Xers and baby boomers at the same age, and the rate is trending sharply downward. This trend, if it continues, could result in at least 900,000 fewer Black homeowners by 2040 than if younger Black renters achieved homeownership at the same rate as Black baby boomers.
James H. Carr, the lead co-author of the NARAB SHIBA reports, said their research found the homeownership rate for Black millennials to be half the rate for White millennials. Furthermore, he said five years ago, their study showed that the Black homeownership rate had fallen so low relative to the past generations that the homeownership rate for Blacks might be lower by 2050 than today unless the trends change significantly.
“NAREB’s multipronged efforts, which include identifying and eliminating institutional barriers to mortgage credit while also informing and educating potential Black households about their homeownership opportunities, is key to comprehensively and effectively achieving success in increasing Black homeownership,” Carr said.
NAREB’s message is that Home Ownership is possible, Register today HERE
