Minority lending picked up slightly in 2004 as mortgage lenders’ appetite for Hispanic and African American loans improved from the year before, according to Inside Regulatory Strategies’ analysis of 2004 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. The difference between total lending to blacks and Hispanics and to white borrowers remains significant. A total of 2,505,878 minority loans were originated last year compared with 10,204,438 loans to whites. … [One data table included]