Home loan outcomes in Franklin County, Ohio – home to Columbus —vary by income and race, according to Cleveland Fed researcher’s analysis of HMDA data

Using Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data to examine trends in mortgage lending in Franklin County, Ohio – home to Columbus — during a 27-year period beginning in 1990, Matt Klesta, a policy analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, finds that:

• Mortgage loan application and origination activity in Franklin County peaked in 2003 but plummeted as the Great Recession set in. From 2003 to 2008, loan application and origination activity dropped by 67 percent and 72 percent, respectively.
• Prior to 2008, mortgage loan application rates per 1,000 housing units were highest in low- and moderate- income (LMI) neighborhoods. After 2008, middle- and high-income neighborhoods saw more erratic changes primarily driven by refinance activity, while application rates in LMI neighborhoods remained depressed, with a slight uptick until 2013.
• The rate of home purchase loans per 1,000 households declined for all race and income groups following the Great Recession, but for black borrowers, the decline was steeper.
• Mortgage loan origination rates across all neighborhood income groups jumped 11 percentage points on average in 2009, with further moderate increases since then.

Find more information in Home Lending in Franklin County Neighborhoods.

Examine trends in mortgage lending for other counties within our region: Cuyahoga, Hamilton, and Montgomery Counties in Ohio; Allegheny County in Pennsylvania; and Fayette County in Kentucky.

Use the Home Mortgage Explorer, a tool developed by the Cleveland and Philadelphia Feds, to examine trends in mortgage lending for other US metro areas. (See related infographic).

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that along with the Board of Governors in Washington DC comprise the Federal Reserve System. Part of the US central bank, the Cleveland Fed participates in the formulation of our nation’s monetary policy, supervises banking organizations, provides payment and other services to financial institutions and to the US Treasury, and performs many activities that support Federal Reserve operations System-wide. In addition, the Bank supports the well-being of communities across the Fourth Federal Reserve District through a wide array of research, outreach, and educational activities.

The Cleveland Fed, with branches in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, serves an area that comprises Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia.

Media contact

Doug Campbell, doug.campbell@clev.frb.org, 513.455.4479