SAN DIEGO (KGTV)— When it comes to housing, "America's Finest City" faces a tough reality: If you're black in San Diego, your family may not own your home.
That's according to a report from San Diego County, which shows that white San Diegans are almost twice as likely to be homeowners.
"The biggest thing is there's no generational wealth passed down," said Eric Hellon, a local real estate agent.
Hellon saw that firsthand, first as a real estate agent for several years and now as the owner of a nonprofit called Homeowner Prep. The nonprofit was designed to help first-time buyers enter the real estate market.
"And discrimination, if you haven't experienced it in this generation. But if your parents had or your grandparents, it's still preventing the income you had today," said Hellon. "The assets you would have and the ability to invest in business or your child's education. So that discrimination and things that happened in the past can still affect us today."
ABC 10News has covered that history of housing discrimination for years.
In 2021, 10News examined the practice of redlining, which dates back to the 1930s. It made many communities of color ineligible for home loans.
The ripple effects are still felt across San Diego County.
"In today’s market, you have to know who you’re getting your loan through," said Hellon. "And is that bank discriminating against you and holding you at a higher standard than some of their other white applicants, compared to some of their black applicants?"
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 made it illegal to deny home sales based on race.
However, a 2021 report from San Diego's NAACP branch found black home buyers were still getting rejected for home loans more often than white and Asian buyers with similar incomes.
"When we think of redlining, we often think that was a long, long time ago. And it really wasn't, it was in the 60s," said Hellon. "There are still banks being caught and penalized for the same actions, so there's not a lot that's changed. So we want to focus on, yes, redlining happened, and it's still happening today. How do we overcome it?"
Hellon thinks that the next step is education. Homeowner prep offers one-on-one financial coaching, home tours, and the services of more experts to explain the home-buying process.
But the most important part, according to Hellon, is breaking through decades of setbacks to realize the dream of buying a home in San Diego may not be as far away as you think.
"The biggest feedback we get is they're closer than they thought they were," said Hellon. "So when you're afraid of something, you don't take that first step. So when they go through our events, they're usually starting a process that's going to change their family's financial future."
Homeowner Prep is holding a workshop in La Mesa next month to help home buyers learn more and ride along with a housing inspector to gain insights about what to look for in a first home.
Click here to see Homeowner Prep's website.
