Mississippi broker's book on housing discrimination hits Amazon bestseller list

Dr. Zakk Varughese’s new book on racism in U.S. real estate has become an Amazon Best Seller and No. 1 New Release after publishing July 20, 2026. The Brandon, Mississippi broker says the industry’s rules changed after fair-housing laws, but discriminatory outcomes did not.

Why it matters: - Dr. Zakk Varughese is trying to put a broker’s firsthand view of housing discrimination into the industry record. - The book argues that fair-housing rules changed the language of discrimination, but not the outcomes for many buyers, sellers and agents. - The timing matters because federal fair-housing policy is in flux, including a proposed rollback of disparate-impact regulations and a new appraisal appeal rule.

What happened: - Varughese published Breaking Barriers: Confronting Racism in American Real Estate on July 20, 2026. - The book became an Amazon Best Seller and a No. 1 New Release in Public Affairs and Administration. - NAREB ranked Varughese No. 1 in Mississippi and No. 9 nationally among individual agents and brokers on its 2026 Top 100 list. - The book was written after six years of selling homes in Central Mississippi.

The details: - Varughese says the book is the first on the subject written by a practicing broker rather than a journalist, academic or attorney. - The 357-page book centers on what Varughese calls the Six Dimensions of Housing Opportunity: Legal, Financial, Professional, Geographic, Institutional and Environmental access. - Each chapter connects historic practices such as redlining, restrictive covenants, exclusionary zoning and urban renewal to present-day issues such as appraisal disparities, algorithmic underwriting, institutional investment in single-family homes and higher insurance costs. - Varughese says professional access is one of the most visible problems, including referrals, leadership opportunities, service on multiple listing service and grievance committees, and whether ethics complaints move forward. - Varughese writes from inside the system as a REALTIST and a member of NAREB, which was founded in 1947 because Black brokers were barred from local real estate boards. - The book is available in paperback, hardcover and Kindle editions. - The book is the first volume of the Breaking Barriers Trilogy. - The book is being positioned for real estate professionals, lenders, appraisers, fair-housing advocates, educators, policymakers and buyers. - Varughese says the book is written to supplement continuing-education courses on fair housing in most states.

Between the lines: - Varughese’s core argument is that modern housing discrimination often shows up through systems that appear neutral, not through explicit racist language. - He describes the industry’s new barriers as appraisal gaps, lender overlays, referral networks and institutional decision-making that can still produce unequal results. - The book also doubles as a critique of who controls access inside brokerages and boards, where Varughese says the pattern of representation has not changed enough. - The framing suggests the author wants the book to function as both advocacy and an internal audit tool for broker-owners. - The federal policy backdrop gives the book broader relevance, because housing rules are being tested on whether they are judged by intent or by effect.

What's next: - Varughese says the book ends with an audit that broker-owners can use to review referral flow and complaint outcomes. - He filed a comment opposing HUD’s proposed rescission of its disparate-impact regulations as a practicing broker and HUD-registered listing broker. - The Federal Housing Finance Agency ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September to preserve borrowers’ right to appeal an appraisal. - Varughese is available for interviews, panels and continuing-education sessions on fair housing and professional access. - More information is available at the author's website.

The bottom line: - Breaking Barriers turns one Mississippi broker’s experience into a broader claim: housing discrimination has evolved, but it has not disappeared.