Since their inception in 1978, NeighborWorks America and the NeighborWorks network have focused on creating
tools and strategies that meet the housing needs of chronically
underserved American families. In June 2002, President Bush announced
the national goal of increasing the number of minority homeowners
by at least 5.5 million by the end of this decade. In October 2002,
the president held the White House Conference on Minority Homeownership
and invited NeighborWorks America and other partners to come
together to consider strategies aimed at significantly narrowing
the housing gap. In complementary efforts, the Congressional Black
Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the
U.S. Conference
of Mayors resolved to devote special attention to this issue. The
private sector and regulatory agencies also have made substantial
investments in developing tools and strategies that target minority
markets.
The NeighborWorks Training Institute held a symposium August 20,
2003 in Washington, D.C., called “Working Together to Change the
Face of Home Ownership — Effective Tools and Strategies for Reaching
Minority Markets,” sponsored by Fannie Mae, State Farm Insurance,
and Freddie Mac. Many of the resources on these Web pages were developed
for the symposium.
Minority homeownership will become even more important in the next ten years. According to a 2007 report published by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University,
minorities will account for 68 percent of the 14.6 million projected growth in households in 2005–2015.
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Despite
increases in the number of minority families that have become
homeowners over the last decade, vast differences in rates
of homeownership between minority and white households remain.
Minority homeownership still lags behind the national average
by approximately 25 percent, according to a 2006 Joint Center for Housing Studies report. In response to these statistics
and their implications, increasing minority homeownership
has become a national priority.