Have mortgage lending reforms during the first half of the 1990s been associated with improvements in the home-ownership prospects of black residents? Have the spatial patterns of loan applications changed, to increase lending activity in lower-income tracts and to advance residential integration? This paper investigates changes in mortgage lending activity in the St Louis metropolitan area over the period 1990-94. Analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data suggests that the home-ownership prospects of black St Louis residents improved over that period, as a result of increases in loan application rates from blacks during the latter half of the period, and of steady improvements in loan approval rates for black applicants. Some increases were seen in the proportion of applications attracted to lower-income tracts. Black loan applicants became more likely to apply for a loan in a predominantly white tract. A detailed spatial analysis of loan application patterns suggests that trends towards greater residential integration have accompanied recent mortgage market reforms.
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