Federal Programs to Advance Homeownership Opportunity to Narrow Racial Disparities

On May 17, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the Urban Institute, and Penn IUR hosted “Federal Programs to Advance Homeownership Opportunity to Narrow Racial Disparities,” the first event in a new series entitled “Advancing Homeownership Opportunity to Narrow Racial Disparities.”  The event featured two online panel discussions on federal strategies for narrowing the racial homeownership gap.

Laurie Goodman, Institute Fellow, Urban Institute, moderated the first discussion among panelists Simone Beaty, Senior Director, Affordable Lending, Freddie Mac; Stacey Shifman, Senior Director, Single-Family Analytics and Modeling, Fannie Mae; Melody Taylor, Executive Director of the Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity Task Force, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development;  Frank Vespa-Papaleo, Deputy Fair Lending Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and James Wylie, Associate Director for Fair Lending, Federal Housing Finance Agency. This session introduced current federal efforts to advance racial equity in homeownership, including equity plans by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the interagency Action Plan to Advance Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity, new home renovation products, and underwriting innovations from government-sponsored enterprises. Participants also discussed special purpose credit programs and other innovative strategies for reshaping housing market access.

The second panel, moderated by Penn IUR Co-Director Susan Wachter, focused on ways to leverage these new and emerging programs. Panelists included Reza Aghamirzadeh, Executive Vice President and Head of Community Development, Citizens Bank; Janneke Ratcliffe, Vice President, Housing Finance Policy Center, Urban Institute; Lisa Rice, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Fair Housing Alliance; and Robin Wiessmann, Executive Director and CEO, Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

The new series envisions innovative strategies for expanding homeownership opportunities for households of color. Theresa Singleton, Vice President and Community Affairs Officer for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, noted in her opening remarks that the Philadelphia Fed’s research and data, which has long highlighted racial disparities in credit access and homeownership, can be used to more effectively deploy policy and programs to address root causes. The series, she said, is “part of a broader dialogue where we can find and leverage solutions that will address these disparities that have such negative impacts on individuals, communities, and ultimately the economy.”