Homeownership in Maryland: Confronting the racial inequities

By Jayne Miller,

Teria Rogers, Rob Sivak, Malarie Pinkard-Pierre

Published April 26, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT

New four-story townhomes under construction in 2019 at the southeast corner of Guilford Avenue and E. Lanvale Street in Baltimore. The rate of homeownership in Maryland among Black people continues to lag behind that of Whites. According to a 2021 report on race and home buying in Maryland, only 52% of Black residents are homeowners, compared to the 78% of White residents who own their homes. In Baltimore City, Mayor Scott recently unveiled several initiatives to assist renters looking to buy their first homes. (Photo credit: Eli Pousson for Baltimore Heritage via Wikimedia Creative Commons) — New four-story townhomes under construction in 2019 at the southeast corner of Guilford Avenue and E. Lanvale Street in Baltimore. The rate of homeownership in Maryland among Black people continues to lag behind that of Whites. According to a 2021 report on race and home buying in Maryland, only 52% of Black residents are homeowners, compared to 78% of White residents. In Baltimore City, Mayor Scott recently unveiled several initiatives to assist renters looking to buy their first homes. (Photo credit: Eli Pousson for Baltimore Heritage via Wikimedia Creative Commons)

Welcome to Midday. Sitting in for Tom Hall once again is guest host Jayne Miller, the former WBAL-TV reporter and now an independent investigative journalist.

Today, Jayne will be looking at the future of Baltimore from two angles: later in the program, the focus will be on the progress of downtown development efforts. She'll be joined by two Baltimore Banner reporters who recently wrote a sobering assessment of the current state of the heart of the city.

But before we discuss commercial development, we consider what's happening with residential properties in the city.

Last week in his State of the City speech, Mayor Brandon Scott spotlighted the latest initiatives of the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD)and other agencies to increase Black homeownership in Baltimore. He calls this effort the Middle Neighborhoods Strategy. Here is some of what the mayor said:

“Through (the Department of) Housing, Live Baltimore, and the Department of Planning, we're investing $9.7 million toward grant programs to finance home repairs for legacy homeowners and create pathways to homeownership for families with school-aged children...This includes providing 270 grants through our Buy Back the Block initiative to help renters move towards homeownership by offering them $10,000 to buy—or $20,000 to buy and renovate—a home where they currently rent.”
— Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott.

Can programs like these increase Black homeownership and narrow the gap?

Jayne also examines more broadly why the rate of homeownership in Maryland among Black residents is still lagging behind White residents.

According to a recent report on race and home buying, in 2021 Black homeownership for Marylanders was 52% while White homeownership in the state was 78%. What factors are contributing to the gap and how are real estate professionals addressing the issue?

Joining Jayne to discuss these questions is Ashley Thomas, a Los Angeles-based realtor and vice president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, an organization of African-American real estate professionals focused on democracy in housing.

Ashley Thomas joins us from Los Angeles on Zoom.

Ashley Thomas III serves as vice president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), an organization of Black real estate professionals dedicated to pursuing racial equity in housing markets. Mr. Thomas, a native Californian, is the CEO and owner of LA Top Broker, a mortgage brokerage firm based in Los Angeles, California. He is also managing broker of First Security Investment Co., Inc. (FSICO), a multi-faceted real estate sales and property management company. (courtesy photo)