Half of American Indians applying for mortgages last year didn’t get one, according to federal data.
“Native Americans” (Indians plus Alaska Natives) were approved for home loans at a rate of 50.85 percent in 2013, while 30 percent saw their applications denied and another 19 percent withdrew or didn’t complete their apps, according to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data sorted by ComplianceTech, Arlington, VA.
Some 26,000 Indians were approved for mortgages last year, HMDA data show, as well as 24,000 “Native Hawaiians” (Native Hawaiians plus Natives from Pacific islands like Guam and American Samoa), who had a somewhat better approval rate at 56.6 percent. About 43,800 Indians or Native Hawaiians were denied loans or fell out of the process.
Looking at one state with a large Indian population (more than 10 percent), New Mexico last year had a dismal showing, with just 35.6 percent of Indian apps being approved. About 43 percent of apps were denied, and another 21 percent fell out. Only 695 mortgages were granted to New Mexico Indians last year, the HMDA data show.
The state’s small Native Hawaiian population did much better, with 54.5 percent approvals. Native Hawaiians got 104 mortgages in New Mexico last year.
In dollars, New Mexico Indians were loaned $93 million and Native Hawaiians copy6 million. Indians’ 1.1 percent share of total mortgage dollars in the state came to about 10 percent of their share of the population.
No mortgage lender made as much as copy billion in mortgages to Indians last year. Wells Fargo Bank, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was the top lender last year, according to the ComplianceTech data. It made $730 million in mortgages to Indians/Alaska Natives. Quicken Loans, Detroit took the silver medal, at $397 million, and Bank of America, Charlotte, North Carolina, was third with $338 million.
Other interesting top lenders were a military credit union and a farm credit lender. Navy Federal Credit Union, Vienna, Virginia, was 17th with a volume of $78 million. Farm Credit Services of MidAmerica, Louisville, Kentucky, finished eighth with $89 million. Farm Credit banks concentrate on loans to farmers and ranchers, but they also make rural mortgages.
Bank2 of Oklahoma City, traditionally the mortgage leader in Indian home finance at Indian-controlled lenders, ranked 28th nationwide at $26 million. It is owned by the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.
