Blockbusting

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Blockbusting is a practice used mostly by real estate agents. The agent convinces white people to sell their houses at low prices by telling them that people of color were moving into their neighborhood, exploiting their fear of lowered property values. Many times the real estate agent would then raise the price of the house again and sell it to a person of color.

Alternatively and in contradiction to the preceding definition, "blockbusting" refers to the practice whereby neighborhoods demonstrating exclusivity based on social differences, particularly of race, have their perceived 'exclusive' nature broken down in order to encourage the sale of properties and in-migration of formerly excluded social groups. It has been suggested that the term originated with the practice in Chicago where in order to accommodate the out-migration of economically successful residents to better neighborhoods outside ghettos, people were hired to create a visual presence in the restricted neighborhoods and thus, encourage residents to sell their properties and move to still more restrictive suburbs. For example, black women were paid/encouraged to push baby carriages in exclusive white neighborhoods to encourage white residents to sell their properties on the premise property values would decline with an increase in the visible social differences that characterized neighboring ghettos.

The town cannot prohibit the placing of outdoor "for sale" signs by homeowners to reduce the effect of blockbusting. Linmark v. Willingboro, 431 US 85 (1977)] Doing so would infringe upon the freedom of expression.