WI Web Staff
The National Association of Real Estate Brokers holds its initial Building Black Wealth Tour event in Houston on Saturday, kicking off activities in more than 60 cities nationally.
The events, which include festive activities for youth, will empower Black communities with steps towards homeownership, property investment, starting a business and other wealth-building opportunities.
Working with the African American Mayors Association and the National Bar Association, NAREB will sponsor the events in cities nationally over the next two years.
Each event will include classes, workshops and one-on-one counseling on homebuying, investing, credit, and careers in real estate.
The tour will include Birmingham (11/11/23), Charlotte (3/2/24), Mount Vernon (4/13/24), Little Rock (6/8/24), New Orleans (8/3/24), Atlanta (11/9/24), Miramar (3/25), Beverly Hills, Missouri (6/25) and Los Angeles (8/25).
“The time for action on Black wealth is now,” said NAREB President Courtney Johnson Rose. “NAREB is urging our Black communities to take the journey towards wealth. Come to our events in your city and learn what you need to purchase a home. We are helping Black families overcome the biased public policies and private practices that created the vast wealth gap in America today.”
Rose noted that the Federal Reserve says, on average, Black families own about 24 cents for every $1 of white family wealth. Homeownership, a critical component of Black wealth, declined for Blacks every quarter since the pandemic, leaving Blacks with the lowest percentage of homeowners in the country.
Despite the contributions of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, 55 years later, the racial homeownership gap has widened. In 1960, 38% of Black-owned homes, while white homeownership was 65%, a 27-point gap. Presently, the gap is about 30%, the most extensive spread since 1890.