Message from Our Founder
On behalf of the National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America (NAMMBA) I am proud to present our first annual NAMMBA report on The State of Diversity in the Mortgage Industry. Our goal in creating this report is to call attention to the obstacles, industry practices, and systemic barriers hindering minorities from purchasing homes, and to illuminate the ways in which we can begin to address these challenges. More and more young people are buying homes, with Millennials currently accounting for one third of all homebuyers. Millennials are also the most diverse generation to date, making BIPOC homebuyers an increasingly large segment of the market. However, the status quo in the mortgage industry still operates at the expense of marginalized groups.
We have consistently seen the many ways a diverse workforce benefits all customers, as well as the harm that a lack of diverse perspectives and cultural awareness can do. To put it plainly, the future is diverse and inclusive, and we must continuously strive to meet it. We can do that through employing and retaining a diverse workforce, making our services accessible to people of all backgrounds, offering Employee Resource Groups, and many other manageable and necessary steps. In this report, you will see an overview of how diversity is already spreading within the homebuyers in the United States, and the challenges these groups face in the mortgage industry. We provide you with some tangible and effective steps to take in order to help bridge the gap between the mortgage industry and homebuyers, through better internal practices and external communication.
Thank you to everyone who has supported this effort, especially the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) team, who provided us with data on the nationwide demographics of mortgage loan officers. We are looking forward to continuing to see how this report can make a difference in our industry and help ensure that we are providing the best support we can to homebuyers.
Best,
Tony Thompson Founder & CEO, NAMMBA CEO, Cultural Outreach