Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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Loans by Race and Ethnicity
Of the 2,590 applications in Arlington where the race and ethnicity of the primary applicant was reported, the
vast majority of applicants were White (78%; 2,011 people), followed by Asian (18%; 476 people). Just 53
applicants (2%) were Latino and just 23 (1%) were Black. There were eight applicants that were American
Indian or Alaskan Native and five applicants that were Pacific Islander. While the share of Asian applicants
seeking mortgages in Arlington is higher than the share of Asian residents currently living in Arlington (11.5%),
the share of Latino and Black applicants is much lower than that of Arlington’s current population (4% and 2%
respectively). In other words, those applying for mortgages in Arlington are even less likely to be Latino or Black
than Arlington’s current population. The proportion of applicants for an Arlington home who are Black or Latino is
less than half the proportion of Black or Latino applicants for homes in the comparison region.
Given the small proportion of mortgage applications in Arlington that are from Latino or Black applicants, these
households would be accessing homeownership opportunities at lower rates than White households, regardless of
the rate at which mortgages are approved by lenders. However, mortgage approval rates are not necessarily
uniform across different racial and ethnic groups. Within the moderate- and high-income groups, which had the
highest number of applicants, there are no clear trends. However, the denial rate for Latino applicants in the
high-income category was three times that of White applicants (9% and 3% respectively), a troubling difference
that indicates potential lending discrimination. In the moderate-income category, the difference in denial rates
between White and