blockbusting
noun
block·bust·ing ˈbläk-ˌbə-stiŋ 
: profiteering by inducing property owners to sell hastily and often at a loss by appeals to fears of depressed values because of threatened minority encroachment and then reselling at inflated prices
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The world's largest bourbon and music festival returns to Louisville with a blockbusting line-up featuring several rock icons, and Kentucky's finest mash and celebrity chefs. 
Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 12 Aug. 2022 The world's largest bourbon and music festival returns to Louisville with a blockbusting line-up featuring several rock icons, and Kentucky's finest mash and celebrity chefs. Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 12 Aug. 2022 The world's largest bourbon and music festival returns to Louisville with a blockbusting line-up featuring several rock icons, and Kentucky's finest mash and celebrity chefs. Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 12 Aug. 2022 The world's largest bourbon and music festival returns to Louisville with a blockbusting line-up featuring several rock icons, and Kentucky's finest mash and celebrity chefs. Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 5 Apr. 2022 The same goes for overtly racist policies of the past that are no longer on the books, like urban renewal, redlining and blockbusting. Justin Phillips, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Oct. 2021 The latest exploration of this general theme comes via the blockbusting bestseller The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig, in which Nora, the protagonist, attempts to kill herself one evening. Pavel Krapivin, Forbes, 4 Apr. 2021 The notorious blockbusting schemes of the postwar period provide just one example of how real estate has actively courted racial tension in the service of profit. Colin Kinniburgh, New Republic, 9 Aug. 2017 Carter led protests against the Baltimore real estate tycoon Morris Goldseker, whom Carter and other activists accused of blockbusting — a practice through which developers stoked racial fears to increase profits. Luke Broadwater, baltimoresun.com, 20 May 2017 See More
Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 12 Aug. 2022 The world's largest bourbon and music festival returns to Louisville with a blockbusting line-up featuring several rock icons, and Kentucky's finest mash and celebrity chefs. Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 12 Aug. 2022 The world's largest bourbon and music festival returns to Louisville with a blockbusting line-up featuring several rock icons, and Kentucky's finest mash and celebrity chefs. Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 12 Aug. 2022 The world's largest bourbon and music festival returns to Louisville with a blockbusting line-up featuring several rock icons, and Kentucky's finest mash and celebrity chefs. Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 5 Apr. 2022 The same goes for overtly racist policies of the past that are no longer on the books, like urban renewal, redlining and blockbusting. Justin Phillips, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Oct. 2021 The latest exploration of this general theme comes via the blockbusting bestseller The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig, in which Nora, the protagonist, attempts to kill herself one evening. Pavel Krapivin, Forbes, 4 Apr. 2021 The notorious blockbusting schemes of the postwar period provide just one example of how real estate has actively courted racial tension in the service of profit. Colin Kinniburgh, New Republic, 9 Aug. 2017 Carter led protests against the Baltimore real estate tycoon Morris Goldseker, whom Carter and other activists accused of blockbusting — a practice through which developers stoked racial fears to increase profits. Luke Broadwater, baltimoresun.com, 20 May 2017 See More Word History
First Known Use
1951, in the meaning defined above
Legal Definition
blockbusting
noun
block·bust·ing
: profiteering by inducing property owners to sell hastily and often at a loss by appeals to fears of lowered values because of threatened minority encroachment and then reselling at inflated prices
Note: Many states have statutes prohibiting blockbusting by real estate agents.
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