32% of Black Owners Say Homes Unfairly Appraised

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Black homeowners believe appraisal discrimination is rampant, a new survey from LendingTree finds.

Overall, 23% of homeowners of all races believe their home appraisal is too low. But the consumers who are most likely to feel that way are Blacks (32%) and LGBTQ+ homeowners (31%), the survey finds.

Despite the fact that appraisers are prohibited from considering protected classes under the Fair Housing Act in the development of a property valuation, more than half—58%--of Black homeowners believe that race, sexual orientation, or another protected demographic is factored into an appraisal, LendingTree’s analysis finds. One in four Black homeowners who’ve ordered a home appraisal say they’ve even tried to conceal their race from the appraiser. Only 11% of white homeowners said they tried to do the same.

“The more data collected on how people of different races, sexual orientation, or genders have their homes appraised, the easier it would be to identify any problems,” says Jacob Channel, LendingTree’s senior economic analyst.