Gentrification and Housing Wealth Inequality

• In Event: 40821 - Community and Urban Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 6. Gentrification II

Abstract

Do Black and White homeowners experience similar rates of home value appreciation when their neighborhoods gentrify? Existing research suggests that home values are often suppressed in predominantly Black neighborhoods, and that White homeowners tend to enjoy greater increases in their home values over time. There is also evidence that gentrification—an influx of middle-class residents into a low-income neighborhood—may cause home values to quickly rise. This study tests the hypothesis that White homeowners living in gentrifying neighborhoods experience greater increases in their home values than do Black homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods. The findings contribute to studies of gentrification, race, and inequality.

Authors

• Kevin Beck, University of Hartford

• Isaac William Martin, University of California-San Diego