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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In the comparison region, approximately 73% of applicants were White, followed again by Asian applicants
(18%). Around 5% of applicants were Latino and 4% of applicants were Black. Less than one percent of
applicants were American Indian or Alaskan Native or Pacific Islander.
While the share of Latino and Black applicants is higher in the comparison region than in Arlington, in both cases
it is again less than half the share of Latino and Black residents in the region (12.8% and 13.6% respectively).
While this is unsurprising given the lower rates of homeownership among Black and Latino households, it
reinforces the conclusion that there are substantial barriers preventing these groups from seeking mortgages and
homeownership opportunities, both in Arlington and across the 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 banks. However, mortgage approval rates are not necessarily
uniform across different racial and ethnic groups. The small sample size of applicants of color in Arlington makes
it difficult to draw conclusions in many categories.70 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 Latino applicants was much less pronounced (8% and 7% respectively). While Asian
applicants in the