Insights
Market reports, forecast data, industry insights, and more from iEmergent.
The real estate industry is evolving. Diverse households now represent the most significant opportunity for homeownership growth, a trend expected to continue for decades. Yet, many real estate agents are not fully leveraging this potential. With the right data, strategies and partners, agents can step up and play a critical role in expanding equitable lending while driving their business success.
Traditionally, real estate agents were the primary gatekeepers for homebuyers, acting as the first point of contact for individuals beginning their journey to homeownership. However, platforms and virtual tours now give buyers access to property listings without relying solely on agents, shifting their role from gatekeepers to trusted advisors who guide buyers through an increasingly complex process. Today, lenders are increasingly positioned as a new starting point, identifying mortgage-ready borrowers outside an agent’s personal network. By offering targeted marketing strategies and specialized products designed to meet diverse needs, lenders can help bridge gaps for underserved buyers—creating new opportunities for real estate agents to connect with clients they may not have otherwise reached.
Despite this shift, significant barriers to homeownership persist in underserved and diverse communities, particularly in four key areas: trust, education, access to credit, and inventory.
Many potential buyers in these communities don’t even begin the homebuying process because of these challenges. However, real estate agents who take an active role in addressing these barriers can have a meaningful impact. By building trust within these communities, educating potential buyers on available resources, and working alongside lenders and housing advocates, agents can open the door to homeownership for a broader range of buyers while strengthening their own business in the process.
A 2022 study conducted in Columbus, Ohio, by the Mortgage Bankers Association in partnership with the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, and The Ohio State University highlights gaps in how real estate agents and loan officers perceive and address barriers to equitable lending. While loan officers tend to focus on identifying mortgage-ready individuals and leveraging specialized loan products to overcome financing challenges, real estate agents are more likely to underestimate the number of buyers who are financially prepared. This disconnect often stems from agents’ limited awareness of optimized lending solutions and their reliance on visible, active buyers within their networks.
The study also identified trust and education gaps, with many households hesitating to engage with agents or lenders due to misunderstandings about the process. This underscores the need for agents to educate themselves on available products and actively build trust with these communities. Additionally, the findings highlight the importance of building and promoting partnerships between loan officers, real estate practitioners and nonprofits, particularly encouraging collaboration between loan officers and BIPOC real estate professionals. These partnerships can help facilitate outreach, improve education and close the gaps in homeownership opportunities for underserved buyers.
Current national housing trends clearly point to diverse households as the future of homeownership growth. The Urban Institute projects that over 70% of net new homeowners in the coming decades will come from minority households. Hispanic households alone are expected to contribute more than half of this growth, followed closely by Black and Asian communities.
Despite this clear upward trend, these groups remain underserved due to persistent barriers, such as misconceptions about mortgage readiness, trust gaps and a lack of community-focused strategies. For real estate agents, this represents both a challenge and an unprecedented opportunity. Agents who proactively educate themselves on the needs of diverse communities, leverage available data to identify underserved markets and collaborate with lender partners offering curated solutions will be better positioned to support this growing segment of homebuyers.
By understanding that these trends reflect a sustainable, decades-long shift rather than a temporary market change, real estate professionals can align their business strategies to meet the needs of these emerging markets while fostering long-term growth.
Misconceptions about financial readiness remain a challenge for many agents when working with minority and low-to-moderate income (LMI) communities. These communities, which include both people—such as minority and LMI households—and places—like majority-minority and LMI census tracts—often face barriers rooted in a lack of education and awareness rather than financial capacity. By deepening their understanding of loan products tailored to these markets and the unique needs of diverse communities, agents can play a key role in bridging these gaps and expanding homeownership opportunities.
Building trust is equally critical. Studies, such as the one conducted in Columbus, Ohio, by the Mortgage Bankers Association, have shown that underserved households—particularly in minority and low-to-moderate income (LMI) communities—often view the homebuying process as inaccessible or intimidating due to past experiences, misinformation or lack of guidance. Agents can bridge this trust gap by engaging with these communities in meaningful ways: partnering with housing nonprofits, offering homebuyer education workshops and collaborating with lenders to share customized loan solutions. By demonstrating a genuine, ongoing commitment to supporting these households, agents can become trusted allies, paving the way for stronger relationships and increased opportunities. But how?
Strong partnerships between agents and lenders are key to addressing these challenges. Collaborations give agents access to resources and products that meet specific community needs while creating a supportive team for buyers. Together, agents and lenders can close trust gaps and improve outcomes.
When evaluating potential partnerships, agents should look for lenders that prioritize diverse markets and demonstrate a commitment to equitable lending practices. These partnerships not only enhance an agent’s ability to serve underserved communities but also build their reputation as trusted advocates for these buyers.
Engaging underserved communities requires thoughtful strategies. Agents should start by identifying trusted centers of influence within minority and low-to-moderate income (LMI) markets, such as housing nonprofits, hospitals, places of worship and community organizations. By engaging with these community hubs—where trust already exists—agents can build meaningful connections. For instance, teaming up with lenders to present first-time homebuyer programs, down payment assistance options or special purpose credit programs can provide valuable education while showcasing available local property listings.
Leveraging data and market intelligence is equally essential. Resources that provide demographic trends, historic HMDA origination data, forecasted mortgage originations and real-time property listings can help agents pinpoint neighborhoods with the greatest potential for growth. By adopting a data-driven approach, agents can uncover market gaps, identify borrower segments most likely to be mortgage-ready and focus their efforts on areas with untapped opportunity.
Shifting the narrative to empowerment-based messaging signals a genuine commitment to inclusivity. Emphasizing opportunity and partnership rather than obligation fosters trust and strengthens relationships with underserved communities.
Traditionally, real estate agents refer homebuyers to a small circle of trusted lenders they’ve worked with before. While these relationships are built on familiarity, they may unintentionally limit options for borrowers—especially first-time homebuyers, minority households and low-to-moderate income (LMI) borrowers. Agents’ go-to lenders may lack the specialized expertise or loan products designed to address these borrowers’ unique needs, such as down payment assistance programs or special purpose credit offerings.
To better serve their communities, agents should remain open to collaborating with a broader range of lenders, including those who specialize in diverse markets. These lenders can identify mortgage-ready buyers outside an agent’s immediate network, provide targeted solutions and expand opportunities for underserved borrowers. By thoughtfully evaluating lender partnerships, agents can ensure they are connecting every potential buyer with the resources they need to achieve homeownership.
Through these expanded relationships, agents can break down barriers, support more homebuyers and ultimately grow their own business while fostering greater equity in the housing market.
Real estate agents have an immense opportunity to grow their businesses while advancing equitable lending. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that 51% of Black and 49% of Hispanic renters believe homeownership is financially out of reach, despite many being mortgage-ready. By addressing trust gaps, leveraging data and partnering with lenders offering individualized loan products, agents can close this gap, support underserved buyers and unlock significant growth opportunities in emerging markets.
This is more than competing for a finite pool of opportunities; it is about expanding the market and creating new pathways to homeownership. Real estate professionals have a unique chance to make an impact while driving their success. By embracing this shift, agents can help build stronger communities and a more inclusive future for the industry.