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Racial Differences in Mortgage Refinancing, Distress, and Housing Wealth Accumulation during COVID-19

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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated racial disparities in U.S. mortgage markets. Black, Hispanic, and Asian borrowers were significantly more likely than white borrowers to miss payments due to financial distress, and significantly less likely to refinance to take advantage of the large decline in interest rates spurred by the Federal Reserve’s large-scale mortgage-backed security (MBS) purchase program. The wide-scale forbearance program, introduced by the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, provided approximately equal payment relief to all distressed borrowers, as forbearance rates conditional on nonpayment status were roughly equal across racial/ethnic groups. However, Black and Hispanic borrowers were significantly less likely to exit forbearance and resume making payments relative to their Asian and white counterparts. Persistent differences in the ability to catch up on missed payments could worsen the already large disparity in home ownership rates across racial and ethnic groups. While the pandemic caused widespread distress in mortgage markets, strong house price appreciation in recent years, particularly in 2020, means that foreclosure risk is lower for past-due borrowers now as compared with the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis and Great Recession. Furthermore, borrowers who have missed payments have significantly higher credit scores now than those who were distressed in the 2007–2010 period, largely due to the widespread availability of forbearance for federally backed mortgages.

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  • Kristopher Gerardi & Lauren Lambie-Hanson & Paul S. Willen, 2021. "Racial Differences in Mortgage Refinancing, Distress, and Housing Wealth Accumulation during COVID-19," Current Policy Perspectives 92793, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedbcq:92793
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lauren Lambie-Hanson & Carolina Reid, 2018. "Stuck in Subprime? Examining the Barriers to Refinancing Mortgage Debt," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(5), pages 770-796, September.
    2. Andreas Fuster & Aurel Hizmo & Lauren Lambie-Hanson & James Vickery & Paul S. Willen, 2021. "How Resilient Is Mortgage Credit Supply? Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic," NBER Working Papers 28843, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Lisa J. Dettling & Lauren Lambie-Hanson, 2021. "Why is the Default Rate So Low? How Economic Conditions and Public Policies Have Shaped Mortgage and Auto Delinquencies During the COVID-19 Pandemic," FEDS Notes 2021-03-04-2, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. de la Campa, Elijah A. & Reina, Vincent J., 2023. "Landlords’ rental businesses before and after the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from a National Cross-Site Survey," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(PB).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    mortgage refinancing; mortgage repayment; home equity; racial inequality; COVID-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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