Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Racial real estate steering occurs when homeseekers are guided by housing providers to communities where their race is already highly concentrated. So as racial minorities are channeled to integrated or predominantly non-white neighborhoods and whites are shown homes primarily in white communities, steering contributes directly to the segregated housing patterns that have long persisted in urban communities and the many costs associated with that separation. Steering can take several forms. Information steering occurs when minority homeseekers are shown or given information on fewer homes or neighborhoods than non-minority homeseekers. Segregation steering occurs when minorities are shown homes in areas with larger minority populations than areas shown to non-minorities. And class steering occurs when neighborhoods shown to minority homeseekers are of lower socioeconomic status than those shown to non-minorities. Several actors in the housing industry engage in steering. Mortgage lenders and insurance agents often provide less information and offer fewer, more expensive, and lower-quality products to non-white households or residents of non-white communities than they do for whites and predominantly white communities. These practices influence the location and range of housing options for minority families. However, racial steering is most closely associated with the practices of ... log in or subscribe to read full text