Times are good for most U.S. homeowners, as record low interest rates spur a surge in refinancings and rising home prices. They’re not so great for Donnell Williams’ clients, most of whom are African American and don’t have the financial resources to compete with the well-heeled New York City buyers bidding up prices in his suburban Northern New Jersey territory. “We’re losing ground,” says Williams, president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, an industry association that promotes Black homeownership.
It’s another scene from the K-shaped economic recovery. Across America, cheap credit—for those who qualify—is widening wealth inequality, often along racial lines. That yawning gap is among the biggest challenges President-Elect Joe Biden—who owes his victory to African-American support—will face now that the pandemic has accelerated the divisions in an already divided America.
