Minorities, Low Income Borrowers Took the Biggest Lending Hit in ‘07

New numbers released by the government this week show that minorities and low-income borrowers felt the brunt of last year’s mortgage lending credit crunch. According to the latest Home Mortgage Disclosure Act numbers, mortgages made to black borrowers dropped 34 percent between 2006 and 2007. The decline was even larger – 41 percent for Hispanics. The decline in loans made to white borrowers was a much more modest drop of 15 percent, the new data reveals. Blacks and Hispanics also saw much higher denial rates than whites in 2007, and there was a noticeable increase in minority denial rates between 2006 and 2007. Not surprisingly, the latest HMDA numbers also show lower originations and higher denial rates among low-income borrowers.