Racial housing discrimination can affect access to ownership, credit, rental information, fees, appointments, neighborhood choices, and follow-up from housing professionals. The statistics below combine current homeownership and mortgage data with paired-tester evidence from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2012 study. The periods and study limitations matter: these figures describe different parts of the housing system and should not be treated as one single-year prevalence estimate.
Table of contents
- Homeownership and mortgage approval
- Mortgage-market access
- Rental information and unit availability
- Rental pricing, fees, and concessions
- Homebuyer appointments and recommendations
- Steering and neighborhood exposure
- How to interpret these statistics
Homeownership and mortgage approval
The Census Bureau reported substantial differences in homeownership rates by race and ethnicity in the second quarter of 2026. The rate was 74.5% for non-Hispanic White Alone householders, compared with 45.4% for Black Alone householders and 58.6% for Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander Alone householders (Housing Vacancies and Homeownership: Second Quarter 2026). These are tenure disparities: they show who owned or rented at that measurement point, but they are not by themselves proof that discrimination caused any particular household’s outcome.
Mortgage denial rates provide a more specific view of access to credit. In 2023, the denial rate for conventional closed-end home-purchase loans was 16.6% for Black applicants, 12.0% for Hispanic-White applicants, 9.0% for Asian applicants, and 5.8% for non-Hispanic White applicants.
| Applicant group | 2023 denial rate for conventional home-purchase loans |
|---|---|
| Black | 16.6% |
| Hispanic-White | 12.0% |
| Asian | 9.0% |
| Non-Hispanic White | 5.8% |
These figures come from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Summary of 2023 Data on Mortgage Lending. They cover first-lien, one-to-four-family, site-built, owner-occupied conventional loans. The denial rates are descriptive associations and do not control for every legitimate underwriting factor, so they should not be read as adjusted estimates of discriminatory denial.
Mortgage-market access
The same 2023 mortgage data show differences in the shares of closed-end loans received by borrower groups. Black borrowers received 8.2% of closed-end home-purchase loans in 2023, up from 8.1% in 2022. Hispanic-White borrowers received 9.9%, up from 9.1%, while Asian borrowers received 7.7%, up from 7.6%.
Refinance patterns moved differently. Black borrowers received 10.1% of closed-end refinance loans in 2023, up from 8.1% in 2022. Hispanic-White borrowers received 6.5%, down from 7.0%, and Asian borrowers received 2.6%, down from 3.6%.
| Borrower group | Home-purchase loans, 2022 | Home-purchase loans, 2023 | Refinance loans, 2022 | Refinance loans, 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 8.1% | 8.2% | 8.1% | 10.1% |
| Hispanic-White | 9.1% | 9.9% | 7.0% | 6.5% |
| Asian | 7.6% | 7.7% | 3.6% | 2.6% |
Income status is another reported dimension of mortgage access. Low- and moderate-income borrowers received 26.0% of closed-end home-purchase loans and 40.3% of closed-end refinance loans in 2023. These percentages describe the distribution of reported loans; they do not establish why a particular borrower did or did not receive credit.
Rental information and unit availability
HUD’s Housing Discrimination Against Racial and Ethnic Minorities 2012 used paired, equally qualified White and minority testers in 28 metropolitan areas. The study measured treatment differences during rental searches, including the information prospective renters received and the units they were shown.
White renters received more favorable treatment than equally qualified Black renters in 28.4% of HUD inquiries, while Black renters were favored in 19.6%. Black renters learned about 11.4% fewer available units and were shown 4.2% fewer units than equally qualified White renters.
The study found similar information gaps for Hispanic and Asian renters. White renters received more favorable treatment than equally qualified Hispanic renters in 28.9% of inquiries, compared with 18.9% in which Hispanic renters were favored. Hispanic renters learned about 12.5% fewer available units and were shown 7.5% fewer units than equally qualified White renters.
For Asian renters, White renters received more favorable treatment in 32.0% of inquiries, while Asian renters were favored in 22.6%. Asian renters learned about 9.8% fewer available units and were shown 6.6% fewer units than equally qualified White renters.
These results concern the 2012 study period. HUD described its net treatment measures as conservative estimates; they are not a 2026 prevalence rate for all rental markets.
Rental pricing, fees, and concessions
The 2012 HUD paired tests also recorded differences in quoted costs and information about negotiability. Average recommended-unit rent was $1,122 for White renters and $1,126 for Black renters. Black renters were told they faced a higher rent than their paired partner in 13.2% of tests, compared with 10.7% for White renters.
Information about incentives differed as well: White renters were told about incentives in 12.9% of tests, versus 8.1% for Black renters. Average quoted fees were $147 for White renters and $155 for Black renters. White renters were told that fees were negotiable in 10.1% of tests, compared with 6.5% for Black renters.
Average quoted move-in payments were $764 for White renters and $786 for Black renters. White renters were told that security deposits or bonds were negotiable in 14.0% of tests, versus 8.7% for Black renters. White renters were told about a lower total first-year cost than Black partners in 24.4% of tests, while Black renters received that treatment in 16.8% of tests.
The average annual net cost was $14,848 for White renters and $14,898 for Black renters. A small average difference does not eliminate the importance of unequal information: a renter can face a different decision environment even when the final quoted amounts are close.
Homebuyer appointments and recommendations
Housing discrimination can appear before a buyer sees a property. In HUD’s 2012 paired tests, Black homebuyers were 2.4 percentage points more likely than comparable White homebuyers to be denied an in-person appointment.
About 80% of Black-White homebuyer tests had one tester recommended more homes than the other. In those unequal recommendation tests, White homebuyers were 13.4 percentage points more likely to be favored. White homebuyers learned about 0.50 more available homes per test than Black homebuyers. In percentage terms, Black homebuyers learned about 17.0% fewer available homes and were shown 17.7% fewer homes than equally qualified White homebuyers.
Asian homebuyers also experienced differences in the study. They learned about 15.5% fewer available homes and were shown 18.8% fewer homes than equally qualified White homebuyers. White homebuyers inspected an average of 2.31 homes per visit, compared with 1.89 for Asian homebuyers.
In White-Asian tests, one tester inspected more homes in 42.1% of tests when White was favored and in 28.2% when Asian was favored. The paired design compares testers in the same market conditions, but the results still describe the study’s 2012 test period rather than current national prevalence.
Steering and neighborhood exposure
Steering refers to differences in the neighborhoods or homes presented to prospective buyers. HUD found that when White homebuyers were shown whiter neighborhoods than their Black partners, those neighborhoods averaged 16.4 percentage points whiter. When Black homebuyers were shown whiter neighborhoods than their White partners, the neighborhoods averaged 14.0 percentage points whiter.
Across the paired tests, White homebuyers were 8.0 percentage points more likely than Black homebuyers to be recommended homes in whiter neighborhoods and 5.0 percentage points more likely to be shown homes in whiter neighborhoods. Across all tests, however, the average difference in neighborhood White population between homes recommended to White and Black homebuyers was under 2 percentage points. This distinction matters: a relatively small overall average can coexist with larger differences in particular paired tests.
Agent time and follow-up also differed. Agents spent an average of 115 minutes with White homebuyers and 104 minutes with Black homebuyers. White homebuyers received agent follow-up in 30.1% of tests, compared with 21.8% for Black homebuyers.
Compared with Asian homebuyers, White homebuyers received agent follow-up in 32.8% of tests, versus 25.0% for Asian homebuyers. Agents were 7.5 percentage points more likely to offer White homebuyers financing help than Asian homebuyers and 9.8 percentage points more likely to offer to prequalify White homebuyers.
How to interpret these statistics
The figures measure several different mechanisms: ownership outcomes, mortgage denials, loan shares, rental information, quoted costs, appointments, recommendations, neighborhood exposure, and agent support. They should not be added together or treated as interchangeable rates.
The most recent figures here are the Census Bureau’s second-quarter 2026 homeownership rates and the CFPB’s 2023 HMDA mortgage figures. The rental and homebuyer treatment measures come from HUD’s 2012 paired-tester study in 28 metropolitan areas. HUD’s estimates are conservative net treatment measures, not a current nationwide prevalence estimate. Census tenure gaps are not by themselves proof of discrimination, and HMDA denial rates are descriptive associations that do not account for every legitimate underwriting factor.