Value fluidity and value anchoring: race, intermediaries and valuation in two housing markets

Abstract

Abstract This article argues that analysts should examine how individuals perceive and construct value in order to understand persistent forms of inequality. Drawing on years of ethnographic observations of real estate professionals and homeseekers across various segments of the housing markets in Houston, TX and New York, NY, this article develops the concepts of value fluidity and value anchoring to describe how valuation occurs and to better theorize how valuation itself reproduces racial–spatial inequality in housing. It shows that consumers’ valuation criteria can be quite malleable and highly influenced by intermediaries and experts. At the same time, valuation is patterned in reference to existing hierarchies. The article concludes by arguing for the importance of theorizing valuation through observation of market interactions and by showing why investigations of the housing market must focus on intermediaries.