San Diego, mortgage hot spot

Among the nation's 30 largest metro areas, San Diego is the best for an African-Amerian attempting to get a mortgage. Zillow.com came out with a study yesterday (February 9). It measures the rate at which certain ethnic groups got turned down for a conventional mortgage in 2013.

In 2013, nationwide, 27.6 percent of African-Americans who applied for a conventional mortgage were turned down. In San Diego, the rate was less than half that — 13.1 percent. That was the lowest mortgage denial rate among the 30 largest U.S. metro areas.

In fact, in every ethnic category, San Diego did better than the nation. Nationally, 13.3 percent of Asians applying for mortgages were turned down; in San Diego, the number was 11.6 percent. Nationally, 21.9 percent of Hispanics were turned down for a conventional mortgage; in San Diego, the percentage was 13.7. Nationally, 10.4 percent of whites were turned down; in San Diego, the percentage was 9.4.