November 24 2020
All Ethnicities and Income Levels Report Encountering Bias in Rental or Purchase Efforts
NORFOLK, VA - (November 17, 2020) -- More than 15% of U.S. consumers have personally experienced housing discrimination as they attempted to rent or purchase a property, according to a new Homes.com survey of 2,000 adults. The poll comes at a time when a federal rule establishing stricter requirements to bring discrimination claims under the Fair Housing Act is being challenged by civil rights groups.
Survey respondents reported encountering bias in one or more scenarios including rental applications (7%), home financing (4%), home searching with an agent (3%), home appraisals (3%) and/or other residential purchase services (3%).
Of those who disclosed their racial identities, 56% of Black or African American respondents expressed that they have faced housing bias (56%), followed by biracial or multiracial respondents (45%), those of Latino or Hispanic heritage (45%), American Indians or Alaskan Natives (31%) and non-Hispanic whites (12%).
The problem also spanned every income level from less than $100,000 to more than $500,000.
The survey also revealed that:
"Homes.com is passionate about, and committed to, providing education and resources that champion equal access to housing for all," stated Dave Mele, President of Homes.com. "These survey insights highlight how the real estate industry can help consumers achieve their housing needs, which is why Homes.com is launching a platform to provide those resources."
Earlier this year, Homes.com formed a Fair Housing work group, dedicated to understanding the history of fair housing, the current status of fair housing progress, and providing those educational resources to consumers. In the coming weeks, Homes.com will launch a dedicated resource page to provide consumers with the latest news in Fair Housing, guidance on how to submit Fair Housing concerns, information on existing programs to assist renters and buyers, and more. This is one of the first projects to reinforce Homes.com's commitment to equipping consumers in a readily accessed way.
About Homes.com
Homes.com offers today's demanding homebuyers, renters, and those somewhere in between a simply smarter home search with a more personalized and conversational way to find their next home. Since its launch over 25 years ago, Homes.com offers real estate professionals brand and property advertising, search engine marketing, and instant response lead generation to help them succeed online. For more information, visit Homes.com.