Housing Market Recovery Still Lagging for Minority Borrowers

The recovery from the housing crisis of the Great Recession has proven uneven in more ways than one. One not insignificant feature: less lending to minority homebuyers.

1 minute read

November 7, 2015, 5:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Bing Bai, Sheryl Pardo, and Karan Kaul provide insight into recently released Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data (HMDA) on 6 million loans made in 2014.

The takeaway that headlines the analysis: "minority borrowers still lag behind in the post-crisis recovery."

The article provides more on that trend: "Minority households were locked out of the post-recession recovery partly due to the tight lending standards as they tend to have lower income and weaker credit profiles. More recently, some progress has been made to open up the credit box and our credit availability index shows that access to credit has started to slowly increase since late 2013."

The article includes several varieties of infographics to illustrate its points. To explore the data further, see also the Urban Institute's interactive map "that now shows 14 years of mortgage originations by race and ethnicity, from 2001 to 2014." The demographic data presented by the Urban Institute follows a similar narrative presented by recent geographic analysis by the Center for American Progress.

Thursday, October 15, 2015 in Urban Institute

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

October 28, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

A car drives through a puddle, making a large splash. Rain pours down.

California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour

If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.

October 28, 2026 - Grist

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

A Firefighter sprays water from a hose at a tall blaze.

US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060

Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.

7 hours ago - Inside Climate News

People cross a crosswalk in Los Angeles.

LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks

Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.

November 4 - ABC7

Two women walking on the sidewalk in Dallas.

Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code

The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.

November 4 - Yahoo News