NAREB’s Ashley Thomas III on closing the homeownership gap

About this episode

Ashley Thomas III discusses the policies and barriers affecting homeownership access, particularly in Black communities.

On this episode of the RealTrending podcast, Ashley Thomas III, president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), joined Tracey Velt to discuss the policies, barriers and opportunities shaping homeownership access across the country — especially within Black communities. Thomas framed the Black homeownership gap as more than a market issue, arguing that it was created through decades of intentional policy decisions, from the Homestead Act of 1862 to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lending practices and the GI Bill. Because policy helped create the gap, he said, policy must also play a major role in closing it. Throughout the conversation, Thomas emphasized that access remains the industry’s biggest challenge. Even with more inventory or lower prices, many qualified buyers still struggle to navigate outdated credit models, lending standards, and qualification requirements that don’t reflect how consumers earn and manage money today. The discussion also highlighted NAREB’s policy initiatives, including its Community Property Fairness Initiative, which focuses on FHA rules in certain states that require nonborrowing spouses’ debt to be counted during…

People in this episode

Host: Tracey Velt

Guest: Ashley Thomas III

Topics covered

• homeownership gap
• Black communities
• real estate policies
• lending practices
• housing affordability

Keywords

• homeownership
• Black homeownership gap
• real estate
• lending standards
• housing policies
• NAREB
• credit models

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: National Association of Real Estate Brokers, RealTrends

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