There’s a consistent disparity between the rates of homeownership between Blacks and whites, both in Mobile and nationwide. Now, a new report is illustrating how that gap has persisted and in fact worsened over the last decade.

According to a report from Today’s Homeowner, a trade publication focusing on advice for homeowners, the disparity in homeownership rates between white Mobile residents and Black Mobile residents grew over the last decade. In 2022, the disparity was 36.5 percentage points: white Mobilians owned homes at a rate of 73.1%, whereas Black Mobilians owned homes at a rate of 36.6%.

This gap has widened over the last decade, as Black homeownership rates in Mobile have decreased, the report says. In 2010, the gap between the rates of homeownership was 19.9 percentage points, and the Black homeownership rate was 48.9%.

According to Teresa Bettis, executive director of the South Alabama Center for Fair Housing, the reason for the persistent gap in homeownership rates in Mobile is continued discriminatory lending and redlining practices that prevent African Americans from getting a loan to purchase a home. Even though lenders are prohibited by law from discriminating on the basis of race, Bettis says she often sees Black homebuyers turned away from getting loans or pushed to less reputable lenders.

“It’s done with a handshake and a smile,” Bettis said. “People don’t understand, until you point out how it should be, then they realize they’ve been discriminated against.”