Racial disparities in housing persist for Black Atlantans

May 31st, 2024

The Atlanta skyline is shown, Monday, March 31, 2014, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta saw an increase in Black homeownership during the COVID-19 pandemic, but racial disparities in housing persist.

Nationally, Black homeownership has increased over the last few years, but according to Zillow, it is down from a nearly 50% peak ownership rate reached in 2004.

Meanwhile, home prices have reportedly more than doubled.

“Black residents of Atlanta are missing out on opportunities to prosper, to participate fully in our vibrant economy, and to build wealth that can be passed on through generations,” said Atlanta Civic Site director Kweku Forstall.

He remembers the 2008 housing crisis’ impact on the city.

“Especially on the south side of Atlanta, for example, the foreclosure crisis as we refer to it, it created 500-plus vacant units in the Pittsburgh neighborhood alone,” Forstall said.

He says Black and brown communities do not trust banks, and it’s on financial institutions to repair the relationship.

Nearly 1 in 4 mortgage applications from Black borrowers are denied, according to a 2023 report.

After Kafayat Babajide spent years searching for her home in Southwest Atlanta, the next hurdle was getting a loan. She says the lender left her questioning the whole experience.

“She might have put in a little bit of fight, but I mean, not very much to get my rate down,” Babjide added. “She was basically like, if you want to get your rate down further, you’re just gonna have to pay.”

Forstall says disproportionate access to loans, affordable housing and a stark wealth gap continues to impact Atlanta’s Black and brown communities.

According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, as of 2021, 35% of Black residents own their homes compared to 58% of white residents.

Forstall says local organizations like the Atlanta Land Trust, whose executive director is Amanda Rhein, seek to close that gap. Rhein says building more affordable housing is critical to improving housing access.

“Ensuring that Black families can continue to live in Atlanta is also really important because these are the families that have been here for generations that have helped to make Atlanta what it is today,” Rhein said.