What’s Steering in Real Estate? A Buyer’s Guide to Neighborhood Segregation

You’re ready to buy a home, and the first thing you do is hire a trusted real estate agent. You share your budget, what you’re looking for, and the neighborhoods you’re considering. In an ideal world, your agent listens carefully and then sends you every listing that could possibly fit your list of must-haves. Their recommendations are guided by your actual needs rather than their own preconceived notions about what they think you might need. They patiently answer your questions and guide you to community resources that can help you make the best decision for you and your family. Unfortunately, this ideal experience isn’t how things pan out for a lot of homebuyers in the United States, especially minorities. Real estate agents have a long history of steering buyers toward certain neighborhoods based on race, color, religion, and other discriminatory factors. In fact, steering is one of the big reasons for the widespread neighborhood segregation we see in the U.S., even today, despite the Supreme Court finding in 1979 that the practice violates the Fair Housing Act. But what exactly is steering in real estate, and how does it play out across communities? We’ll dive into what you nee...