Low- to moderate-income consumers and minorities face a difficult time when it comes to buying a home in New York, according to an affordable housing advocacy group.
Members of these groups find it difficult to obtain credit to purchase a home, the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development said in a new report. Additionally, a lack of available properties complicates the situation.
About 7.2% of all home-purchase loans in 2014 in New York were made by low- to moderate-income groups, ANHD said. That was down from 7.5% in 2013. The report's most recent data is through 2014.
The four largest banks made a smaller number of home-purchase loans, falling from 50% in 2011 to 45% in 2014.
Making matters worse, nonbank lenders that are not required to comply with the Community Reinvestment Act are grabbing a larger portion of the market share. About 30% of all home-purchase loans in 2014 were made by non-CRA lenders, up from about 23% in 2011.
Finally, lending data does not mirror New York's demographic data. While about 22% of New Yorkers are black, about 8.7% of home-purchase loans went to black borrowers. About 29% of New Yorkers are Latino and about 8.4% of home-purchase loans went to Latino borrowers.
The Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development called for elected officials and regulators to work together to increase the supply of affordable housing, and provide more financial assistance and counseling.
