It’s a mixed bag in Banker & Tradesman this week – some good news, some bad.

Columnist Scott Van Voorhis, vindicating his previous coverage of a study that found that building market apartments could actually bring down rents across the city, has a new look at the numbers that prove him right.

Rents for studios and one-bedrooms in buildings built prior to 2011 – disconcerting called “old,” despite encompassing an age range from six years old to over a century – dropped in 2016. It’s no coincidence that the majority of the luxury units that have come online of late have been one-bedrooms and studios; a luxury two- or three-bed, it would seem, is a luxury indeed.

The appearance of those units on the scene has apparently eased the pressure on rents; two-bedroom rents dropped slightly and three-bedroom units not at all. The optics aren’t great – the shiny glass, sparkly white interiors and deserted streets declare their privilege pretty clearly. But while residents and advocates wring their hands and try to figure out how to solve the perennial housing issues in our fair commonwealth, at least these luxury units are helping a little.

On the other hand there’s Jim Morrison’s coverage of the most recent HMDA data analysis, which finds – surprise, surprise – continued and consistently high rates of denial of minority mortgage applicants. After controlling for a number of factors, black and Latino borrowers are still denied at higher rates than white applicants.

The source of this seems to be human nature and goes back more than 25 years. An analysis of 1990 HMDA data found that when the applications are absolutely perfect and unblemished, white and minority applicants are approved at around the same rates. But very few mortgage applicants ring all the bells. When lenders are called upon to use their best judgement, minority applicants are denied in higher numbers. White borrowers get the benefit of the doubt more often than black borrowers.

That kind of discretion is good, said the author of that study, because it allows lenders to make reasonable exceptions to the rule. The problem was that lenders – who are predominantly white – are much more willing to be flexible and work with borrowers who looked like them.

This is human nature; we are more likely to want to work with or help out people who look like us, which is as true in lending as it is in construction, or publishing, or even just walking down the street.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Everyone knows it’s true, but people don’t really actively thinks about it in day to day life. And they should be aware of the predisposition to choose people who look like themselves, to recognize it and overcome it. Diversity improves everything it encounters. Diverse companies are more profitable. Diverse boards make better decisions. Diverse homeownership makes stronger communities. (Plus, discrimination is broadly illegal.)

So next time you’re approving a loan or hiring a new employee, take a second look – not at the candidate, but at yourself.