Young, single Black women are leading Baltimore’s housing resurgence
LiveBaltimore, a nonprofit organization dedicated to attracting city residents who need homeownership assistance, saw that the majority of its applicants in 2025 were single Black women aged 25 to 44.
The city of Baltimore is ensuring first-time homebuyers have a chance.
LiveBaltimore, a nonprofit organization that works to attract city residents to remain within Baltimore’s city limits, particularly regarding homeownership, saw a record number of applicants last year.
According to LiveBaltimore data, 71 percent of applicants were women, and 73 percent of those women were single. A deeper dive into the numbers showed that 60 percent of applicants were between the ages of 25 and 44, and that the vast majority, 81 percent, were Black. Those numbers are in stark contrast with national averages.
In 2025, 74 percent of white Americans owned homes, compared to 46 percent of Black Americans, according to Urban.org. And Black borrowers are twice as likely to have their mortgage applications denied. Hence, LiveBaltimore has made it a priority to consider Black women applicants.
“Single Black women are our No. 1 customer by far, and really by design,” Meghan McCorkell, LiveBaltimore’s executive director, told USA Today. “This is a majority-minority city, and so we want to foster that community.”
Per LiveBaltimore, the nonprofit markets to Black women by placing them in advertisements to show potential homeowners in the city that it can be done.
Mayor Brandon Scott took to Instagram on Tuesday (Feb. 10) to tout the program’s effectiveness after USA Today spotlighted soon-to-be 35-year-old first-time homeowner Kourtnee Turner and Shaniqua Payne.
“In case you missed it… Check out this @usatoday piece that highlights Buy Back The Block and our other targeted efforts to increase homeownership!” he captioned the post. “We are very proud that Black Women are the face of the programs!”
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