Homeownership: Building Generational Wealth and Resiliency

Adrianne Todman, NAHRO CEO

During the Great Recession, the American Dream of owning a home felt, to some, like a nightmare. Homes lost value, and many families lost their home altogether. It was a gloomy time for many homeowners and those who contemplated homeownership.

Last year’s “State of the Nation’s Housing,” produced by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, suggested that homeownership has been on the rebound. The homeownership rate increased to 64.4 percent in 2017 and 2018 after a 12-year decline. While affordability and access to credit continue to be a barrier to many families, demand in homeownership is experiencing a modest increase.

Unfortunately, homeownership is not equitably distributed. The homeownership rates are 73 percent for whites, 57 percent for Asians, 47.1 percent for Hispanics, and 42.9 percent for Blacks. The wide differential is attributable to historic unequal access to mortgages, housing insurance, and homeownership opportunities. Systemic practices that intentionally impeded the ability of generations of marginalized communities from accumulating wealth succeeded.

Which is why the work so many of you take on to help low- and moderate-income families is not only admirable, but critical in helping to secure hope and opportunity.

For instance, the Allegheny County Housing Authority has worked with families to repair their credit and become preapproved by a lending institution. The agency went so far as to offer residents the opportunity to purchase the single-family home where they lived.

The Kennewick Housing Authority in Washington state partnered with a local Community Action Agency to combine a dedicated down payment fund with the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Homeownership program, with the goal of moving families up and out of poverty.

The San Antonio Housing Authority plans to develop more than 100 single-family homes and sell these homes to families who successfully complete its Home Buyer Readiness Program.
These agencies are only three that were awarded NAHRO’s Award of Merit over the past several years for their outstanding homeownership initiatives. These efforts, and so many others, are helping to make the impossible possible for families, and creating stepping stones to building wealth. This is life-changing work undertaken by housing agencies that is often overlooked or underappreciated.

I certainly hope that you took the time to relish the amazing impact of your homeownership programs during this past Homeownership Month. And if you do not have a homeownership program and would like to explore how to begin one, please email me for more information at ceonahro@nahro.org.

A responsible, outcome-based homeownership program leverages benefits not only for the new homeowners, but for furthering the mission of housing agencies and the resiliency of communities.

Celebrating Pride!

As we close out June, I encourage everyone to take the time to learn more about the courageous acts of the LGBTQ community as they took on prejudice and discrimination throughout the country. Learn more about Harvey Milk, who, in the 1970s, became one of the country’s first openly gay elected officials. Or read about the impact of the Stonewall protests that occurred in June, 1969 and why they are considered the starting point of the modern gay rights movement. Perhaps read some poetry by Audre Lorde who described herself as a “black lesbian feminist mother warrior poet.” And don’t stop there! As Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”