The Bronx Has More Denials of Home Loans in Entire City

May 5, 2015 — The real estate market in the South Bronx is on fire. And didn't we tell you that gentrification, once started, tends to build up momentum? It's good news for the middle class, which is scrambling for reasonably priced homes amid a city that is getting more and more expensive by the day. But it tends to spell out bad news for the poor who will most certainly be priced out of their homes. It may already be beginning. According to a new report from the Department of Finance on the banking needs throughout New York City, nearly 30 percent of all home loan applications were denied in The Bronx. DNAinfo reports that the "amount is well above New York's denial rate of 23 percent and almost twice as high as Manhattan's 17 percent," adding that "Assistant Commissioner Elaine Kloss attributed the high denial rate to a variety of possible factors, including the borough's comparatively low income levels and banks' reluctance to give out subprime loans following the 2007 recession." Driving up the denial rate is the number of people who could have qualified for subprime loans and are now getting denied. However, the data is from 2013, so Dr. Daniel Miles, director at Econsult Solutions, the economic consulting company that submitted the report to the finance department, told DNAinfo that the South Bronx's newfound popularity as the next It neighborhood might not be evident in those figures yet, nor will it be for another one or two years.