Housing expo offers classes to black future homeowners

Third Ward event hopes to equalize mortgage rates

Hundreds of Houstonians attended a housing expo on Saturday aimed at increasing homeownership among AfricanAmericans, a segment of the population that’s underrepresented among homeowners.

The rate of black homeownership has been declining since its peak in 2004 and is now near a 50-year low, according to the National Association of Real Estate Brokers and the Houston Black Real Estate Association, which hosted the annual event.

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data show that blacks received less than 10 percent of new mortgages in Houston last year, compared with the 48 percent whites received. They are rejected for loans twice as often as whites, according to the mortgage data.

“Any time you shut one demographic out of the housing market, regardless of color, gender or otherwise, it affects everyone,” said Kim Barnes-Henson, president of the Houston Black Real Estate Association. “Our statistics say for every two houses sold, one job is created, and for every one home sold, $60,000 to $80,000 goes back into the economy. So when we stop that movement, everybody suffers.”

The expo, held at the Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church in the Third Ward, was part of

“Realtist Week,” established by the National Association of Real Estate Brokers in the early 1970s to spotlight the role black homeownership plays in stabilizing or revitalizing neighborhoods. Mortgage lenders, housing counselors, insurance firms and financial education specialists filled a large community room on the church’s second floor, passing out flyers and providing information to consumers about different aspects of the homebuying process.

The Houston event highlighted a new program by the national association to increase black homeownership by 2 million people over the next five years. In Houston, the target is 4,500 new homeowners a year. Classes were offered throughout the day on subjects such as down payments and credit, investing and the first-time homebuying process. ‘Renting was easy’

Angelia Broden, who was at the expo with her husband, attended a firsttime homebuyer class and had lined up an appointment with a real estate agency for this week in the expo hall.

Broden, a 41-year-old mother of three who rents an apartment in southeast Houston, said she has gotten to the point in life where she wants to have a home.

“I felt like renting was easy and there was less maintenance, hassles or headaches,” she said. “Now as I’m getting older and thinking about it, it’s a great investment because I could really be paying myself instead of paying a landlord.”

As the population has grown and home prices in Houston have risen, affordability has become a greater concern among buyers. Many have credit concerns as well, said Michael Davis of the Brooks & Davis real estate firm, an exhibitor at the event.

“Credit is preventing them to have access to the capital they need to purchase the home,” Davis said.

The rate of black homeownership reached its peak of nearly 50 percent in 2004, according to the associations. Now it’s just below 42 percent. By comparison, the white homeownership rate is around 72 percent. Post-recession fears

Barnes-Henson said misconceptions and fears left over from the 2008 housing crisis are holding people back from buying homes.

“There was some unscrupulous lending. We’ve got millennials who watched their parents lose a home, so they’re not excited about getting into a home,” she said. “We’re just trying to dispel some myths and trying to make them understand that homeownership is really good. There’s been more protections put in place so they don’t have to have the same fears.”

As part of the nationwide efforts, the local association is planning to host more workshops throughout Houston similar to Saturday’s event.

Barnes-Henson said educating the public on home buying options is key to improving ownership rates.

“A lot of people think you have to live in an unwanted area to get down payment assistance. We do need to revitalize those areas, but that’s not the case. You can live just about anywhere you want, and you can make more than the median income,” she said. “We’ve just got to get the information out so people know.”