ABSTRACT
African American homebuyers generally have a clear idea of the racial demographics that would be ideal in a neighborhood, as well as other characteristics that make for good neighborhoods. The combination of first-order filtering and search heuristics may actually lead homebuyers to places that fall far short of these ideal characteristics. In order to understand the role of search heuristics , one must first understand what determines the choice set. Homebuyers have three main strategies for the search process: avoiding decline; searching for improvement; and searching for stability. The homebuyers who used the strategy of searching for stability searched in terms of neighborhood demographics, amenities, and housing values. Compared to homebuyers searching for improvement, those searching for stability feel that they had less time to wait. Homebuyers who had already decided on a strategy of searching for stability also feared the potential for decline and would be happy to buy a home in a place that at least remained stable.
