CARY, N.C., Nov. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- An analysis powered by artificial intelligence has revealed racial disparities in homeownership, home loans and foreclosures in NYC. The analysis showed that neighborhoods with a higher proportion of Black and Hispanic homeowners have lower home values even when home age and square footage are the same. Additionally, the findings revealed that the total cost of acquiring home purchase loans is higher for Black and Hispanic borrowers than for other races, even when controlling for differences in down payment and home value.
Sheri Grice, a Project Manager at SAS, grew up with ambitious goals to create a great life for a family of her own one day. But between the expensive median price of a New York home and the racial wealth gap, the New York native did not think owning a home in her home state was attainable.
To Portia Exum, a SAS Software Tester from New Jersey, the Black Homeownership Project is also very personal. Portia not only takes pride in her day-to-day work at SAS, but also leaving her desk to see, with her own eyes, the active impact that SAS analytics is making.
After attending a townhall about affordable housing and connecting the struggles of those around him to his family, Aaren Avery, Software Developer at SAS, wanted to be part of the solution, not the problem. Avery shares how he has used these passions to work with SAS software to support affordable housing efforts.
Initial Project Findings
Applying analytics to help tackle racial disparity, members of the Black Initiatives Group, a diversity and inclusion initiative at SAS, jumped at the chance to help close the widening racial wealth gap.
The team of SAS experts and volunteer advocates use machine learning models and visual analytics dashboards to uncover insights that help the Center develop and implement targeted programs.
The analysis was made possible through a collaboration between analytics powerhouse SAS and the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, one of the largest nonprofits committed to protecting affordable homeownership for low- and moderate-income families.
The work is central to the Black Homeownership Project, an initiative from the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, which is helping advocate for policies that break down these barriers and close the racial wealth gap. In the decade that followed the 2008 financial crisis, Black homeownership in New York City dropped considerably: there were at least 20,000 fewer Black homeowner households in 2017 than there were in 2005. With the devastating economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, compounded by historic barriers to Black homeownership, this rate could drop even more.
To help the Center accelerate its exploration of racial disparities, the Citi Foundation, through its Community Progress Makers program, helped connect the Center and SAS. From there, a team comprised of data scientists and analytic volunteers – including many members from SAS' Black Initiatives Group (BIG), one of several employee diversity and inclusion groups at the company – joined forces with the Center to analyze NYC housing data.
For members of the project team, personal experiences made this project even more meaningful. "I've seen some of this firsthand," explained SAS Project Manager Sheri Grice. "Growing up, I saw for myself I was not going to be a homeowner in New York. It was not attainable. From just seeing my peers and my peers' parents and what they went through, I knew the only option for me was to leave."
To further explore disparities in homeownership, the Center will be able to use SAS models and visual analytics dashboards to develop and implement targeted programs to help increase Black homeownership and address key challenges Black homeowners face, including more foreclosures, more tax liens and higher unemployment rates than their non-Black counterparts. This project is occurring at a critical time, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disproportionally affect Black communities and as anti-racist protests gain international attention.
"Our collaboration with SAS demonstrates the power of analytics to unearth trends that can be used to empower Black communities at a time of urgent discourse around systemic racism," Christie Peale, CEO/Executive Director of the Center for NYC Neighborhoods. "The findings will be used by the Center's Black Homeownership Project to design new programs and to advocate for policy changes that can help to close the racial wealth gap."
Financial institutions play a critical role in closing the racial wealth gap, and these findings could support their efforts to implement more data-driven policies. Through partnerships with nonprofits and other organizations, financial institutions can provide key lending decision data to identify similarities and disparities among various groups. And by applying advanced analytic technology to these important datasets, organizations like the Center can more quickly identify inequalities and take action to protect these communities.
About the Center The Center for New York City Neighborhoods promotes and protects affordable homeownership in New York City so working- and middle-class families can build strong, thriving communities. We carry out our mission to promote and protect affordable homeownership through the lenses of racial equity and climate change. Established by public and private partners, the Center meets the diverse needs of homeowners throughout New York state by offering free, high-quality housing services. Since our founding in 2008, our network has assisted over 200,000 homeowners, and provided more than $60 million in funding to community-based partners. Visit cnycn.org to learn more.
About SAS SAS is the leader in analytics. Through innovative software and services, SAS empowers and inspires customers around the world to transform data into intelligence. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW®.
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