In 2004 the housing market built on the record home sales experienced in 2003. Metropolitan Area conventional loan applications were up 11.5% from 2003 (from 32,753 to 36,508), and originations were up 8.6% (from 25,104 to 27,264). Nationally, conventional loan originations increased by 21.6% over 2003 levels (from 4,811,096 to 5,852,437) as mortgage interest rates remained affordable and credit continued to be available. This report shows continued improvement in the Target Area (TA), the City of Milwaukee, and in minority lending in the Metropolitan Area. Steps have been taken by area lenders to make the lending process more inclusive and to make the American dream of home ownership a reality for persons of all ethnicities. For the period of time covered by this report, the rate of growth for residential lending in the Target Area has out-paced the growth of the Metropolitan Area as a whole. Each year since 1996 the number of loans originated in the TA has grown. In 2004, conventional loan applications in the TA were up 48.1% (2,017 to 2,988) from 2003, and originations were up 46.1% (1,173 to 1,714). Assessed values continue to increase in the TA, indicating that home equity continues to build. But this report also illustrates that there is work left to be done to close Milwaukee’s racial lending gap. Residential loan denial disparity for non-whites compared to whites in the Milwaukee Metropolitan Area, while improved from prior years, is still among the highest in the nation. And while the loan denial rate for Metropolitan Area non-white home loan applicants is declining, mirroring that of the nation as a whole, the denial rate for Metro Area white loan applicants remains among the lowest in the nation.