A recent study has found that Black homeowners pay an average of $13,464 more over the lifetime of their mortgage loans than white homeowners, reported Bloomberg. This amount includes interest, mortgage insurance and tax expenses. A primary factor, said the study, is risk-based pricing. Since Black homeowners tend to have lower credit scores (which carry their own racial biases), and make smaller down payments, they wind up paying more over the course of the mortgage, as they are paying a worse rate for longer. The report pointed out that even in cases where there is no risk-based pricing officially, such as those involving Federal Housing Administration loans, the banks overseeing the loans tend to add on a so-called servicing-risk premium.

The results call to mind another recent study, which found that Black homeowners also pay about 13 percent more in property taxes. One factor is that Black homeowners are much less likely to appeal their property assessment. When they did try, they were less likely to win, and when they did win, their assessment reductions were smaller. Another factor is that Black-owned homes appreciate in value more slowly, but assessors tend to assume that they'll increase in value at the same rate as a house owned by a white household, which means that, over time, the assessed value of the home will outstrip its actual market value. Finally, there is also outright discrimination, as there have been several historical instances in which taxes have been used to retaliate against Black political action.