How Three Black Women Hope to Change the Home Appraisal Industry (Published 2023) (2024)

The home appraisal industry is overwhelmingly white, male and aging: the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that of the 75,000 appraisers in the United States, 97 percent are white, and other surveys show that nearly three-quarters are both male and above the age of 45.

This lack of representation, Black real estate professionals say, is a glaring problem, contributing to a persistent, widespread practice in the home appraisal industry to give higher values to homes when the occupants are white, and devalue them if the owners are Black.

“The issue of discriminatory appraisals is a major challenge in our community,” said Lydia Pope, president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, an advocacy organization for Black professionals in the industry.

The simplest solution, Ms. Pope said, is recruiting more Black appraisers, and particularly Black women. The New York Times spoke to three of them — two industry veterans and one just completing her training — about racism, representation, and cautious optimism in the industry. The responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

Jillian White

Chief executive and founder of a consultancy addressing bias in appraising

Ms. White, 41, has been a certified appraiser for 20 years. She estimates that of 75,000 appraisers in the United States, she’s one of about 300 Black women actively working in the industry. Part of the issue is the appraisal industry’s training structure: In addition to the cost of education, most states also require aspiring appraisers to find a mentor to spend hundreds of hours or more training them. For Black people — and particularly Black women — looking to enter the profession, the lack of mentors within their communities is often a dead end.