Multifamily real estate development is a complex and challenging industry that affects the housing supply in many cities and communities. With the US in a housing affordability crisis, boosting the country’s housing production is critical. Our research looked at the representation of people of color and women in the housing development market in cities across the US. We found that among for-profit and nonprofit developers of multifamily housing, there are significant inequities in leadership by race/ethnicity and gender. These inequities are tied to fewer homes and less wealth in some communities. Our research documents the challenges in multifamily housing development and describes public, philanthropic, and private-sector solutions.
Summaries and Reports
Examining Trends of Housing Developers by Race and Gender: An Analysis of 10 Cities
To understand the participation of developers of color and female developers in the industry, we looked at multifamily housing construction (projects of 10 units or more) and permit data in 10 cities between 2019 and 2023. We identified the development entities led by people of color and/or women and quantified their market penetration in terms of number of active entities, units produced, and estimated property valuations. We found the following:
- Across the 10 cities in our study, we identified 1,395 development entities with projects matching our criteria.
- Collectively, these developers have built or plan to build or rehabilitate approximately 388,843 housing units, representing approximately $87 billion in investments according to property valuation estimates (recent sale prices, development costs, or tax value assessments). Los Angeles, followed by Seattle and Washington, DC, are the cities with the most development activity in terms of built or permitted units.
- In all 10 cities, multifamily housing developers of color are underrepresented compared with their shares of the adult population. Conversely, white-led development entities are overrepresented.
- Latino developers are the most underrepresented racial or ethnic group across the 10 cities. Their underrepresentation in the two Texan cities we studied is particularly striking. Latinos make up 38 percent and 61 percent of adults in Dallas and San Antonio, respectively, but only 4 percent of large multifamily developers in Dallas and 1 percent in San Antonio are Latino led.
- We found the largest group of Latino-led developers in Miami (31 percent). But even in Miami, Latinos are underrepresented when considering that this group represents 71 percent of the city’s adult population.
- Among developers of color, Asian developers fared better in terms of representation in almost all cities. In places like Los Angeles, Boston, and Seattle, there are very active ecosystems of Asian developers with often outsize output in terms of number of units or property valuations.
- Black developers were underrepresented in all cities compared with their shares of the adult population. However, in places like Chicago, Boston, and Washington, DC, vibrant ecosystems of Black developers meant relatively better representation compared with other cities.
- Overall, San Antonio has the largest underrepresentation of developers of color, while Seattle has the smallest.
- Women were also underrepresented in all cities as leaders of large multifamily housing development entities. Their representation ranged from 23 percent (Boston) to 6 percent (Nashville).
- In most cases, representation of female-led developers was worse when measured by the number of units permitted or built and their property valuations.
- Both developers of color and female developers were further underrepresented among for-profit firms, limiting avenues for leaders to build wealth through business profits. For example, in Boston, 60 percent of nonprofit developers are led by people of color, but only 12 percent of for-profit developers are. Similarly, 72 percent of nonprofit developers are led by women compared with only 12 percent of for-profit developers.
