Expanding the Availability of Shared-Equity Homeownership

Homeownership holds substantial promise as a strategy to promote health and racial equity. Owning a home can provide individuals and families with residential stability and the opportunity to build wealth. However, despite its potential benefits, homeownership has remained out of reach for many low- and moderate-income families and people of color. 

Abt’s recent project, Using Homeownership to Advance Health and Racial Equity, explores a wide range of policies, programs, and actions that can expand access to affordable, sustainable homeownership opportunities for these communities.  The project produced four policy briefs as well as a landscape analysis and summary of recommendations. These materials explore options for making  homeownership more accessible and beneficial, which can help policymakers, advocates, researchers, and other stakeholders better understand the barriers to homeownership in their communities and identify action steps for addressing them.

This brief explores ways to expand the availability of shared-equity homeownership. In shared equity homeownership, homes are sold to low- and moderate-income buyers at below-market prices in a way that both facilitates wealth-creation for the homeowners and preserves long-term affordability for future buyers. In this brief, we explore policy and practice options for expanding use of this model.