Washington, DC needs to slow down speculation in the Housing Market

Rev. Graylan Hagler was appointed Co-Chair of Mayor Bowser’s Black Ownership Strike Force which was charged with how to use $10 million in funds to advance Black Homeownership. Black homeownership in DC lags behind the national averages. There has been a number of factors that have disadvantaged Black home ownership, such as discriminatory practices, and that median Black household income is $49,000 per year in comparison to white median income of $149,000. This places Black households at a disadvantage of competing in the housing market, particularly at these high valuations. One proposal that Rev. Hagler put forth was that monies invested into properties for the sake of flipping them should be dormant for a period of time. Most of the investing monies flow from outside DC, sometimes outside the country, and often through entities trying to make a fast buck. The proposal is, if property is bought and held for less than 36 months it increased value could only be 10% at most. This caps the speculative market and allows average working people to compete in this artificially inflated market. Unfortunately, the politicians seem to be afraid that this might anger developers. Legislative action needs to come through Council member at-large Robert White’s office and his committee on housing. His contact is: 

Email: rwhite@dccouncil.gov 

Telephone: (202)-724-8174 

Call him and tell him that you want caps on what houses could be sold for if held for less than 36 months.