As Raleigh home prices grow, so does concern about gentrification

Many people gathered Thursday evening at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts for a panel about gentrification.

While some people were excited to hear about new neighbors moving into their communities, others asked a big question: What happens to residents already there?

The discussion was made up of six housing experts and an urban planner as a moderator.

A mile away from the center, the community on Bragg Street and South Bloodworth Street has $350,000 homes on one lot and lifelong residents in another lot.

The Neighborhood Is Mostly Black.The Homebuyers Are Mostly White.

Vacant homes are on the same block, and it appears wealthier homeowners are moving in.

“I think it’s fine,” one man said. “It just improves the neighborhood and everything.”

But some are concerned that as a newer tax base moves in, more of the long-term, less affluent residents will be pushed out.

“I thought it was the best thing that could happen for southeast Raleigh,” resident Karen Haynes said. “But as time has gone on, I’m seeing more and more and becoming wiser about what it really means.”

Investors flip housing markets, and home buyers are reeling

Years ago, Haynes thought about selling her house, but she stayed.

Now, for-sale signs are popping up.

“I wished everyone had an equal opportunity to purchase one of those homes,” she said.

She said she hopes lenders will help create a path to help people who have been renting in the areas undergoing gentrification to find a way to home-ownership in those communities.