It’s been clear for decades that black would-be homeowners are denied mortgages far more frequently than applicants of other races.
Every year, the numbers are shockingly similar: The most recent show that 23.5 percent of black applicants were denied conventional mortgages in 2014. The denial rate was 18.8 percent for Hispanics, 12.2 percent for Asians and 9.4 percent for whites.
Compounding those denial rates: The vast number of people who do not even apply for loans.
“The black-white homeownership divide in the U.S. is perniciously long lasting,” said Zillow Senior Economist Skylar Olsen. “We can talk about denial rates all we want, yet the divide begins before mortgage applications are ever filled out.”
It’s hard to measure that, so instead Zillow Research looked at application rates in mostly black and mostly white, middle-class neighborhoods around the country. Because blacks rent more than own, we also compared areas with similar levels of homeownership.
The findings:
- People who live in the mostly black areas applied for 44 percent fewer conventional mortgages than those in mostly white areas.
- That was partially offset by the fact that people in mostly black neighborhoods applied for 37.5 percent more FHA loans, which are intended for low- and moderate-income borrowers and tend to be pricier.
“Far fewer applications are submitted in black neighborhoods relative to white neighborhoods, even those with similar income levels and homeownership rates, whether because of reduced exposure to availability opportunities or early discouragement,” Olsen said.
It’s a discouraging sign for people who remember the days when banks used to redline African-American neighborhoods.
“We have seen the re-emergence of a dual market in the mortgage market, with higher-cost FHA lenders dominating African-American neighborhoods,” said Dan Immergluck, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and an expert in housing and community development issues.
While black neighborhoods and borrowers need FHA loans, they also need more conventional loans, Immergluck said. He called for increased scrutiny of fair lending practices among conventional lenders, as well as so-called “duty-to-serve” requirements of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac involving low- and middle-income families.
Such scrutiny would “make sure that all borrowers and neighborhoods have access to low-cost credit at equal terms,” Immergluck said.
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from Zillow Porchlight | Real Estate News, Advice and Inspiration http://www.zillow.com/blog/black-white-mortgage-divide-190395/
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