​​​​​​​​​​​​Broward Housing Council Newsletter

Broward Housing Council Annual Report

Broward County Affordable Housing Needs Assessment

Publications From Other Agencies

Brookings Institution

Homeownership, racial segregation, and policy solutions to racial wealth equity

Brookings Institution, September 1, 2021, by Rashawn Ray, Andre M. Perry, David Harshbarger, Samantha Elizondo, and Alexandra Gibbons

Homeownership is often viewed as the entree to the American dream and the gateway to intergenerational wealth. However, this pathway is often less achievable for Black Americans who post a homeownership rate of 46.4% compared to 75.8% of white families. Compounding matters, homes in predominately Black neighborhoods across the country are valued at $48,000 less than predominately white neighborhoods for a cumulative loss in equity of approximately $156 billion. These are significant contributing factors to the racial wealth gap.

In 2016, white families posted the highest median family wealth at $171,000. Black families, in contrast, had a median family wealth of $17,600. Because wealth (as measured by the total amount of assets a person owns minus debts) is a critical predictor of education, health, employment, and other quality of life metrics, a strategy to maximize homeownership and home value is needed.

Lower Black homeownership and the racial wealth gap are byproducts of systemic racism, including the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, redlining, and other anti-Black policies that targeted Black people and predominately Black neighborhoods. Residential segregation facilitates the extraction of wealth and other vital resources that fuel economic and social mobility. The loss of wealth in Black communities hastens a downward socioeconomic spiral. For instance, schools predominated by Black, Latinx, and Asian students receive $23 billion less in funding than predominately white districts. This is because schools primarily rely on local property taxes rather than a broader pool of funding to equalize school resources.

Furthermore, education as a solution to closing the wealth gap is inherently flawed. White college graduates have seven times more wealth than Black college graduates. This racial wealth gap reveals how little a strategy singularly focused on increasing college degree attainment will have on reducing the racial wealth gap.

Additionally, subpar neighborhood resources lead to fewer banking options, more payday lenders, and less opportunity for financial literacy. Because most people start their businesses using the equity in their homes, Black business development is throttled by Black families’ lack of homeownership and lack of wealth overall.

Full report includes methodology, findings, figures for key cities across the United States, policy recommendations, and acknowledgements.​

US Census

HUD Releases National Housing Data

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its Annual Characteristics of New Housing (2020) data on June 1, 2021.  The data provides national, annual data on the characteristics of new privately-owned residential structures, such as square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, type of wall material, and sales prices. Many characteristics are available at the regional level. The data source is the Survey of Construction (SOC), which is partially funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It also includes a Single Family Interactive House Infographic showing detailed characteristics such as square footage and sales price.

Among the key findings included in the Highlights of Annual 2020 Characteristics of New Housing​ are: 

• Median size of a completed single family house was 2,261 square feet.
• Median size of multifamily units built for rent was 1,075 square feet; median of those built for sale was 1,306 square feet.
• Median sales price of new single-family homes sold in 2020 was $336,900; the average sales price was $391,900. 
• Total of 123,000 contractor-built single-family homes were started in 2020.  Median contract price was $298,500.
  

Florida Housing

2019 Annual Report

​Joint Center for Housing Studies

The State of the Nation's Housing 2021​

America's Rental Housing 2020

National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty

Housing Not Handcuffs 2019

National Low Income Housing Coalition

Out of Reach 2022​: How much do you need to earn to afford a modest apartment in your state?  

Interactive map | Florida Map | Full report | Florida Report​​

NLIHC released its annual report, Out of Reach 2022: The High Cost of Housing, showing that low-wage workers are facing severe challenges affording housing amid record-breaking rent increases. The report highlights the mismatch between the wages people earn and the price of decent rental housing in every state, metropolitan area, and county in the U.S. The report also calculates the “Housing Wage” a full-time worker must earn to afford a rental home without spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs. This year’s national Housing Wage is $25.82 per hour for a modest two-bedroom home at fair market rent and $21.25 per hour for a modest one-bedroom home.

Full article...

Urban Land Institute

Housing Attainability Index: Southeast Florida District Council Dashboard

ULI Terwilliger Center Home Attainability Index

Reducing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing in Broward County

​​Zumper

Zumper National Rent Report

​​October 25, 2022

This month’s report reveals significant price drops throughout much of the country. National one-bedroom median rent is down 0.8% over last month, to $1,491 and the two-bedroom median is down 0.7% to $1,832. More than half the cities on our list posted month-over-month declines and 19 cities remained flat, leaving just 20% of Zumper’s top 100 list with month-over-month increases. This slowdown is showing up in our year-over-year figures, too: After 12 straight months of double-digit year-over-year jumps, the national median is up a slightly more reasonable 9.2% over October of last year. ​

Full article...

NOTE: Based upon median price for  1- and 2-bedroom rentals of the large cities listed in this report, Miami moved up one space from last year to number 5, and Fort Lauderdale moved up 1 space to number 11 for highest prices.  Florida cities claim 7 spots in the top 100.​​