Home Purchase Loans

New research by economists at the Federal Reserve Board suggests that such discrimination is less widespread than it was 30 years ago. Using a data set of nearly nine million loan applications submitted in 2018 and 19, the authors found that 17% of black applicants were turned down compared with 8% of white applicants. But after controlling for the results of automated underwriting systems, which reflect the underwriting guidelines of government sponsored entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, this gap was cut in half.