Racial/Ethnic inequality & contemporary disparities in mortgage lending.

Research over the past two decades has noted significant racial/ethnic wealth inequalities-inequalities with important implications for life chances and institutional access. Home ownership is as a foundational element of such inequality with broad consequences for exposure to crime, quality of publ...

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Main Authors: Meghan M O'Neil, Vincent J Roscigno
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0308121
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author Meghan M O'Neil
Vincent J Roscigno
author_facet Meghan M O'Neil
Vincent J Roscigno
author_sort Meghan M O'Neil
collection DOAJ
description Research over the past two decades has noted significant racial/ethnic wealth inequalities-inequalities with important implications for life chances and institutional access. Home ownership is as a foundational element of such inequality with broad consequences for exposure to crime, quality of public safety services, and access to healthcare, education, and employment. Building on earlier scholarship that has tended to focus on specific forms of mortgages, we draw in this article on over 1.4 million diverse mortgage applications from the largest 100 U.S. metropolitan areas to interrogate racial/ethnic disparities for (1) all home types (mobile homes, condominiums, multi/single-family units), (2) all lien holders (private/government backed), (3) all purposes (vacation/rental/owner-occupied), and (4) all buyer loan sequences (purchase, refinance, home-equity/improvement). Our analyses, which make use of multilevel modeling, reveal durable inequalities for African Americans and Hispanics across time and advantages for Non-Hispanic White and Asian-American applicants. Such disadvantages are likewise observed for those seeking housing in highly concentrated minority locales, although such effects seem to vary by applicant race/ethnicity. Specifically, mortgage originations, while generally less likely in high minority concentrated areas, appear to be more likely for Black/Hispanic borrowers in areas that have been becoming increasingly minority concentrated. Mortgage lending, we conclude, remains a deeply problematic dimension of racial/ethnic inequality with important consequences for persistent segregation, wealth disparities, and the intergenerational transmission of advantage/disadvantage.
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spelling doaj-art-bbaa129813df4e9bb700f7db46cf264c2025-02-05T05:31:29ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01201e030812110.1371/journal.pone.0308121Racial/Ethnic inequality & contemporary disparities in mortgage lending.Meghan M O'NeilVincent J RoscignoResearch over the past two decades has noted significant racial/ethnic wealth inequalities-inequalities with important implications for life chances and institutional access. Home ownership is as a foundational element of such inequality with broad consequences for exposure to crime, quality of public safety services, and access to healthcare, education, and employment. Building on earlier scholarship that has tended to focus on specific forms of mortgages, we draw in this article on over 1.4 million diverse mortgage applications from the largest 100 U.S. metropolitan areas to interrogate racial/ethnic disparities for (1) all home types (mobile homes, condominiums, multi/single-family units), (2) all lien holders (private/government backed), (3) all purposes (vacation/rental/owner-occupied), and (4) all buyer loan sequences (purchase, refinance, home-equity/improvement). Our analyses, which make use of multilevel modeling, reveal durable inequalities for African Americans and Hispanics across time and advantages for Non-Hispanic White and Asian-American applicants. Such disadvantages are likewise observed for those seeking housing in highly concentrated minority locales, although such effects seem to vary by applicant race/ethnicity. Specifically, mortgage originations, while generally less likely in high minority concentrated areas, appear to be more likely for Black/Hispanic borrowers in areas that have been becoming increasingly minority concentrated. Mortgage lending, we conclude, remains a deeply problematic dimension of racial/ethnic inequality with important consequences for persistent segregation, wealth disparities, and the intergenerational transmission of advantage/disadvantage.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0308121
spellingShingle Meghan M O'Neil
Vincent J Roscigno
Racial/Ethnic inequality & contemporary disparities in mortgage lending.
PLoS ONE
title Racial/Ethnic inequality & contemporary disparities in mortgage lending.
title_full Racial/Ethnic inequality & contemporary disparities in mortgage lending.
title_fullStr Racial/Ethnic inequality & contemporary disparities in mortgage lending.
title_full_unstemmed Racial/Ethnic inequality & contemporary disparities in mortgage lending.
title_short Racial/Ethnic inequality & contemporary disparities in mortgage lending.
title_sort racial ethnic inequality amp contemporary disparities in mortgage lending
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0308121
work_keys_str_mv AT meghanmoneil racialethnicinequalityampcontemporarydisparitiesinmortgagelending
AT vincentjroscigno racialethnicinequalityampcontemporarydisparitiesinmortgagelending