For the fourth consecutive year, Black and Latine homebuyers in Massachusetts received mortgage loans at rates nearly proportional to their share of the state’s population. Yet, a sharp overall decline in mortgage lending in 2023 meant that fewer households in these communities were able to purchase homes.

A new report released today by the Partnership for Financial Equity and the Woodstock Institute shows that home purchase mortgages to Black households fell by 23%—from 4,040 in 2022 to 3,115 in 2023—while Latine households saw a 22% decline, from 6,733 to 5,271. Though significant, these drops were slightly less severe than the overall 25% decrease in home purchase mortgage lending across Massachusetts, which was largely driven by rising interest rates and a tightening housing supply. Lending to low- and moderate-income households saw the steepest decline, falling by 36% year over year.

The findings are part of Mortgage Lending Matters, one of the most comprehensive annual analyses of home lending in the Commonwealth, with a particular focus on access for low- to moderate-income borrowers and communities of color.