Borrowers from a Different Shore: Asian Mortgage Market Outcomes

38 Pages Posted: 21 Oct 2013

See all articles by Marsha Courchane

Marsha Courchane

Charles River Associates (CRA)

Rajeev Darolia

Martin School of Public Policy

Adam Gailey

Charles River Associates (CRA)

Date Written: October 17, 2013

Abstract

Even though Asians are the largest minority group participating in United States mortgage markets, research on differences in underwriting and pricing outcomes in mortgages typically focuses on the outcomes of African American/Black or Latino/Hispanic borrowers. One explanation for this lack of attention on Asian outcomes follows from the relative economic prosperity of this minority group, which may lead to the belief that they are not in need of consumer protection. While simple group averages support this belief, many researchers claim that the heterogeneity of Asian experiences dictates the use of other measures to account for the varied outcomes of Asian Americans. Using public and private sources of lender data, we examine these issues in U.S. mortgage markets. We find that Asians face challenges in mortgage markets in ways that may be unique as compared to other minority groups. While an examination of unadjusted average denial rates indicates favorable outcomes for Asians compared to other minority groups, we find that after accounting for loan and borrower characteristics, Asians have the highest denial rates among minority groups.

Keywords: Mortgages, Asians, Minority Borrowers, Discrimination

JEL Classification: D12, G21

Suggested Citation

Courchane, Marsha and Darolia, Rajeev and Gailey, Adam, Borrowers from a Different Shore: Asian Mortgage Market Outcomes (October 17, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2341816 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2341816

Marsha Courchane (Contact Author)

Charles River Associates (CRA) ( email )

1201 F Street, NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20004
United States

Rajeev Darolia

Martin School of Public Policy ( email )

401 Patterson Office Tower
Lexington, KY 40506
United States
859-323-7522 (Phone)

Adam Gailey

Charles River Associates (CRA) ( email )

1201 F. St. NW
Ste. 700
Washington, DC 20004
United States

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