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The Continuing Practice and Impact of Discrimination

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Author Info
Stephen L. Ross (University of Connecticut)

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Abstract

This chapter provides a detailed discussion of the evidence on housing and mortgage lending discrimination, as well as the potential impacts of such discrimination on minority outcomes like homeownership and neighborhood environment. The paper begins by discussing conceptual issues surrounding empirical analyses of discrimination including explanations for why discrimination takes place, defining different forms of discrimination, and the appropriate interpretation of observed racial and ethnic differences in treatment or outcomes. Next, the paper reviews evidence on housing market discrimination starting with evidence of segregation and price differences in the housing market and followed by direct evidence of discrimination by real estate agents in paired testing studies. Finally, mortgage market discrimination and barriers in access to mortgage credit are discussed. This discussion begins with an assessment of the role credit barriers play in explaining racial and ethnic differences in homeownership and follows with discussions of analyses of underwriting and the price of credit based on administrative and private sector data sources including analyses of the subprime market. The paper concludes that housing discrimination has declined especially in the market for owner-occupied housing and does not appear to play a large role in limiting the neighborhood choices of minority households or the concentration of minorities into central cities. On the other hand, the patterns of racial centralization and lower home ownership rates of African-Americans appear to be related to each other, and lower minority homeownership rates are in part attributable to barriers in the market for mortgage credit. The paper presents considerable evidence of racial and ethnic differences in mortgage underwriting, as well as additional evidence suggesting these differences may be attributable to differential provision of coaching, assistance, and support by loan officers. At this point, innovation in loan products, the shift towards risk based pricing, and growth of the subprime market have not mitigated the role credit barriers play in explaining racial and ethnic differences in homeownership. Further, the growth of the subprime lending industry appears to have segmented the mortgage market in terms of geography leading to increased costs of relying on local/neighborhood sources of mortgage credit and affecting the integrity of many low-income minority neighborhoods through increased foreclosure rates.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Connecticut, Department of Economics in its series Working papers with number 2005-19.

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Length: 63 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2005
Date of revision: Jul 2006
Handle: RePEc:uct:uconnp:2005-19

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Related research
Keywords: Homeownership; Housing Discrimination; Mortgage Lending Discrimination; Segregation; subprime lending.;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Mortgages
G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
L85 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Real Estate Services
R21 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
R30 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - Production Analysis and Firm Location - - - General

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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  10. Stephen L. Ross & Margery Austin Turner & Erin Godfrey & Robin R. Smith, 2005. "Mortgage Lending in Chicago and Los Angeles: A Paired Testing Study of the Pre-Application Process," Working papers 2005-03, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  32. Crawford, Gordon W & Rosenblatt, Eric, 1999. "Differences in the Cost of Mortgage Credit Implications for Discrimination," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 147-59, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Fu, Shihe, 2008. "Sexual orientation and neighborhood quality: Do same-sex couples make better communities?," MPRA Paper 7678, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  2. Robert Bifulco & Helen F. Ladd & Stephen Ross, 2007. "Public School Choice and Integration: Evidence from Durham, North Carolina," Working papers 2007-41, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Jun 2008. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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