Blockbusting Definition

The practice of inducing homeowners in a particular neighborhood to sell their homes quickly, often at a loss, by creating the fear that actual or prospective purchases by members of a minority group will bring a loss of value.

(US) A technique used to encourage people to sell their property by giving the impression that a neighborhood is changing for the worse, especially by implying a change in its racial makeup.

The inducement of people by a real estate agent to sell real property quickly, and frequently for less than what the property is worth, by spreading rumors about ethnic minorities moving into the neighborhood and thereby generating business for the real estate agent. This practice is outlawed by many state laws as well as by the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968.