The study found notable variations in denial rates across the 50 largest US metropolitan areas. Grand Rapids and Detroit, both in Michigan, recorded the highest disparities, with Black mortgage denial rates exceeding 20%. In Grand Rapids, the gap between Black applicants and all borrowers reached 9.75 percentage points. Raleigh, North Carolina, followed closely with an 8.44-point difference.
At the other end of the scale, Salt Lake City reported the smallest denial rate gap—just 0.24 points higher for Black applicants. San Antonio, Texas, and Fresno, California, also ranked among the metros with the narrowest disparities.
Debt and credit remain barriers
While debt-to-income (DTI) ratios were the most common reason for mortgage denials across all applicants, credit history posed a larger challenge for Black borrowers. In 2024, 33.16% of mortgage denials for Black applicants cited credit history, compared with 24.85% for all borrowers—an 8.31-point gap.
Though mortgage denial rates slightly narrowed in recent years—dropping from a 5.30 percentage point gap in 2022 to 4.80 in 2024—the overall homeownership gap remains pronounced.
As of 2023, the national homeownership rate was 65.2%. Among Black households, it stood at 44.7%, trailing behind white (72.4%), Asian (63.4%), and Hispanic (51.0%) households.