This report uses public data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) to analyze potential racial bias in home appraisals in the Baltimore metropolitan area from 2013-2022.
The report finds that neighborhoods with larger non-White populations have a higher percentage of homes with appraised values that are lower than the contract sale price than what is observed in predominantly White neighborhoods. Conversely, predominantly White, non-Hispanic neighborhoods tend to experience a higher percentage of homes with appraised values that exceed the contract price.
This analysis suggests the presence of systematic appraisal bias that undervalues homes in predominantly Black communities in Baltimore City and the surrounding counties. While racial differences in appraisal accuracy have improved in recent years, troubling patterns persist.
Ira Goldstein is Principal and Founder of IJG Urban Advisors, LLC, (IJGUA), a consultancy that focuses on issues broadly within the housing and community development subject matter. IJGUA provides research and data-based advice and counsel on questions that practitioners, investors (for- and not-for-profit) and policymakers tackle as they design and evaluate policies, programs, and investments.
Alana Kim is the Civic Data Manager for Reinvestment Fund’s Policy Solutions group. In this role she maintains and improves department data infrastructure and practices, and support projects on matters of data – including discovery, curation, analysis, preservation, and visualization.
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