Black and Hispanic mortgage applicants are significantly more likely to be denied for a loan than white and Asian borrowers, according to recently released federal data.
An analysis by Zillow of information from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) shows that those numbers adjust slightly in Las Vegas, however, where Asian applicants face rejection at a slightly higher rate than Hispanic borrowers. Overall, 12.8 percent of conventional mortgage applications were denied in 2015 in the Las Vegas metro area.
Black applicants in Southern Nevada saw their requests rejected 17.3 percent of the time, the highest rate of any racial subgroup in the analysis. That number fell to 15.6 percent for local Asian applicants and 13.3 percent of Hispanic mortgage-seekers.
For white borrowers, 10.3 percent of applications were rejected.
“Even though conditions have improved over the past few years, getting approved for a mortgage is still a significant barrier for some would-be buyers,” Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell said. “Owning a home is an important way for the middle class to build personal wealth. It’s encouraging to see more black and Hispanic borrowers getting approved for mortgages, but there’s still a lot of progress that needs to be made."
Overall in the country, 22.4 percent of black applicants were denied conventional loans last year. In 2010, 30.5 percent of black applicants were turned down. Among Hispanic applicants, 17.3 percent were rejected, down from 25 percent in 2010. For all conventional loan applications, 10.4 percent were denied in 2015, a drop from 14.2 percent five years earlier.