Some Aspects of Housing Discrimination Haven't Changed in 34 Years

The real story about racial discrimination in housing today, Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said, is the lack of any real differences across cities and regions. Donovan and and Margery Turner of the Urban Institute spoke to reporters on Tuesday in conjunction with the realease of the HUD/Urban Institute summary study Housing Discrimination Against Racial and Ethnic Minorities 2012.

There can be no question that the housing circumstances of whites and minorities differ substantially, the summary study says. Whites are more likely to own their homes, to occupy better quality homes and apartments, and to live in safer, more opportunity-rich neighborhoods. However, it is less obvious whether-or how much-these disparities result from current racial and ethnic discrimination in the housing market or because whites and minorities differ systematically in employment, income, assets, and debts.

The HUD/Urban Institute study involved 8,000 paired tests in 28 large metropolitan areas. Testers were used to determine how much, if any discrimination still exists in housing. The study found the types of discrimination were largely hidden but existed to nearly the same degree in every location.

The tests involved sending two individuals out in search of housing - both rental housing and real estate sales were tested. The individuals were marched in pairs by age, gender, and family composition, but each pair had one white member and one minority member - Black, Hispanic, or Asian. Turner said the pairs were unambiguously equally qualified to rent or purchase the type of residence they were seeking. Testers independently recorded the treatment they experienced, including information about all the homes or apartments recommended and shown.

What the study found was that, as both Turner and Donovan put it, the doors-slamming-in-faces type of discrimination, while not gone, is rare. What has taken its place is a discrimination of fewer choices.

When white and minority pair members contacted rental or real estate agents they were almost equally likely to be given information and an appointment to see at least one available unit, but when differences in treatment occur, white home seekers are more likely to be favored than minorities. Real estate agents and rental housing providers recommend and show fewer available homes and apartments to minority families, thereby increasing their costs and restricting their options.

When black renters contact agents about advertised housing they are told about 11 percent fewer available units than were the white testers and shown roughly 4 percent fewer. Hispanic renters learned about 10 percent fewer available units and were shown almost 7 percent fewer. Asian renters were told about 10 percent fewer options and shown 7 percent fewer units.

When it came to houses for sale, prospective black homebuyers learned about 17 percent fewer listings and were shown 18 percent fewer. Asians were told about 15 percent and shown 19 percent fewer units.

Hispanic renters were informed about 12 percent fewer units and shown about 7 percent fewer but the difference between the White testers and the Hispanic ones were not statistically significant when it came to homes for sale.

Turner said the study methology allows HUD to catch discrimination in action at the very moment is happening. But the testing can't capture all forms of discrimination. For example it does not look at differences in advertising practices that might limit a home seeker's knowledge about available housing options nor can it measure differences in treatment that might occur after the initial inquiry, when home seekers submit applications, seek mortgage financing, or negotiate leases. Nor can the pair testing replicate what average minority home seekers encounter as they may not be as unambiguously qualified as the matched pairs.

The study was the fourth conducted by HUD at approximately 10 year intervals beginning in 1979. Among the changes noted in the latest study compared to the previous one is that only discrimination for availability of the advertised unit has declined. Black renters today appear less likely than a decade ago to be told that advertised units are unavailable. Asian renters are more likely than a decade ago to be shown fewer units but they are less likely to experience adverse treatment when making future arrangements with the agent.

Changes in other measures of rental discrimination are not statistically significant. For changes in sales discrimination over the most recent decade, the authors find less evidence of meaningful progress. The only statistically significant change is for Hispanics, who are less likely than a decade ago to be denied financing help compared to equally-qualified white homebuyers.

Although the most blatant forms of housing discrimination (refusing to meet with a minority home seeker or provide information about any available units) have declined since the first national paired-testing study in 1977, the forms of discrimination that persist (providing information about fewer units) raise the costs of housing search for minorities and restrict their housing options. Looking forward, national fair housing policies must continue to adapt to address the patterns of discrimination and disparity that persist today.

The study says not every instance of white-favored treatment should be interpreted as systematic discrimination. Random factors may contribute to observed differences in treatment; in other tests, minorities may experience more favorable treatment than their white partners for systematic reasons. The study reports the difference between the share of tests where the white was favored over the minority and when the opposite occurred. This results in a net measure which provides a conservative lower-bound estimate of systematic discrimination.

Minorities whose ethnicity was more readily identifiable experienced more discrimination than those who might be mistaken for white. Specifically, black and Asian renters whose race is readily identifiable based on name and speech are significantly more likely to be denied an appointment than minorities perceived to be white.

The study does not support widely held assumptions about when and where discrimination is more likely to occur. There were no substantial differences across regions or metropolitan areas where housing was hit by the Great Recession to a greater or lesser extent.

HUD reckons that when housing providers deny minority home seekers information about some of the housing options offered to whites, the time and cost of minorities' housing search rise and their choices are constrained. A recent survey of homebuyers finds that the median search lasts 12 weeks, with 12 homes seen (National Association of Realtors 2011). A black or Asian homebuyer would have to search longer or choose from a narrower set of options. Unfortunately, little is known about patterns of search among renters, but spending time inquiring about more advertisements and visiting more properties could be burdensome, especially for those with low incomes or inflexible work schedules.

Donovan said there are really three ways to end discrimination; enforcement, opening opportunities, and equalizing opportunities. to that end, local housing groups need to continue to conduct testing. and they need to work with and educate developers to increase the numbers of affordable housing units. Nothing limits choice, he said, more than having no affordable housing. "We at HUD," he said, "won't stop until we know housing discrimination out of the market for once and for all.