More 'Small-Dollar Mortgages' Could Help Bridge Homeownership Gap

One problem with affordable housing is that potential buyers still need loans, but those loans may not be big enough in the eyes of banks and lenders. This is due to the little money lenders will make off so-called small-dollar mortgages, according to the New York Times. These smaller loans can help bridge the gap for minority homeownership, especially in Black and Hispanic communities, yet just 10% of mortgages last year were for $100,000 or less. And that’s 17% lower than six years ago. Enter MicroMortgage Marketplace, a project aimed at proving the importance of smaller loans. Read more to see what MicroMortgage plans to do. 

The Shawnee neighborhood in Louisville, Ky., is a paradox: The houses are affordable, but they can be difficult to buy. The prices are so low that most banks and lenders will not bother writing mortgages for them.

That was the problem facing Christopher T. Smith when he moved back to Shawnee, a historically Black neighborhood along the Ohio River, where his mother still lives in the house where he grew up.

He and his wife, Gloria, did not expect to buy in an area where houses are more often scooped up by speculators who can pay in cash. “We were just looking to rent,” said Mr. Smith, who works as a hospital housekeeper and a part-time gardener.

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