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, Ph.D., is the Senior Advisor of Policy Solutions at Reinvestment Fund, a results-oriented, socially responsible community investment group. Dr. Goldstein has conducted detailed spatial and statistical analyses in many cities and regions across the US.
Alana Kim is the Civic Data Manager for Reinvestment Fund’ 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.
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
| viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |