Home Improvement Lending in the Third Federal Reserve District: Patterns by Income, Race, and Gender

Findings suggest that low- and moderate income (LMI) and nonwhite applicants experienced high denial rates during this period, as did women with no coapplicants and applicants from LMI and majority-minority neighborhoods. These patterns persist after controlling for applicant income and neighborhood characteristics, though indicators of applicant creditworthiness were not available in the dataset. While the analysis cannot identify the causes of observed disparities, it provides insight into which borrower groups may have unmet home improvement financing needs.