SmallChange.co

Did you know that white real estate agents make almost three times as much as their Black peers do?

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), only 6% of realtors are Black. Racism continues to undermine their ability to get ahead. Big time.

In their everyday work lives, Black agents deploy tactics that I have never had to consider, such as changing my name, making sure that no one sees my photo, and keeping my credentials handy. And no one has called the police on me when I’m entering a unit to show a listing. That is downright scary.

Residential sales for white agents averaged $356,000 while those of their Black peers averaged $246,000. And median sales volume was $1,998,000 versus $474,500, according to an NAR survey. These statistics are driven by the smaller pool of clients and smaller commissions for Black agents, since homes owned by Black people are undervalued by around 23%.

There are plenty of bad actors in the industry as well, sharing bigger splits with their white colleagues and not returning calls from Black agents. This practice is bad enough that in 2020 the NAR apologized.

There’s more of course. Writing a Facebook post about this awful state of affairs seems trite. But you have to start somewhere.

What do you think?