Minorities get fewer mortgages. But is that bad?

Orange County Register Blog ^ | November 2, 2009 | by Mathew Padilla

[Oldeconomybuyer]

National Mortgage News reports that Home Mortgage Disclosure Act figures for 2008 show that minorities “were big losers in the market contraction last year.”

And with credit still tight, the outlook for minority access to home loans this year and next looks bleak.

But is that a bad thing?

Subprime lending enabled more minorities to become homeowners during the boom, but many of those folks got mortgages they couldn’t afford. The result: record foreclosures.

Lending to Hispanics fell by more than half, from $266 billion to $130 billion. African Americans also registered a sharp drop in mortgages last year, from $170 billion in 2007 to $96 billion, a more than 40% drop in dollar terms. Asian mortgage loans dropped to $95 billion from $145 billion in 2007, or approximately a third.

[indylindy]

How sad that getting a mortgage is based on skin color or ethnicity rather than a person’s ability to pay for a mortgage. Why would people want something they can’t pay for or maintain?

This entitlement thinking is what is wrong with America these days.

[pnh102]

As long as every single person who was denied credit was indeed denied because their credit was bad or otherwise lacking, then I don't have a problem with it. If a majority of those people happen to be of a certain ethnicity, oh well.

Lending to people who had no business borrowing in the first place was what got us into this mess.

[brwnsuga]

Minority borrowers need to do their research.

[Venturer]

How sad that getting a mortgage is based on skin color or ethnicity rather than a person’s ability to pay for a mortgage. Why would people want something they can’t pay for or maintain?

This entitlement thinking is what is wrong with America these days

---

Let me expand just a bit on your post.

How sad that getting a job is based on skin color or ethnicity rather than a person’s ability to do that job. Why would people want a job they can’t compete in, pass exams for promotion at, or do that job in a satisfactory manner?

You see your statement is equally usable for Affirmative Action jobs, given to people bacause of the color of their skin. Of course the answer is a bit easier, they want the job for the paycheck.

We live today in an America where people do not think. They merely buy things because it’s easy to get the credit.
I was brought up to only buy things I could afford. Credit is a trap in America, and the trap just slammed shut.

[Mikey_1962]

Equal opportunity does not mean equal results.

[17th Miss Regt]

You just nailed a major difference between conservatives and liberals. Liberals do believe that equal opportunity does mean equal results.

[I Buried My Guns]

Conservatives want people to be equal at the starting line of life.

Liberals want people to be equal at the finish line.

[17th Miss Regt]

That is exactly the way I explain the situation to the college age kids my son brings home. It nails the differences in a clear, concrete manner perfectly.