WASHINGTON — A disproportionately large percentage of mortgages made to blacks and Hispanics last year met the government's definition of "high cost" loans, a new study said.

The report, released yesterday at a conference in Arlington, Va., analyzed nationwide mortgage data for 2006 and reached conclusions similar to those of a study published by the Federal Reserve last month.

Advocacy groups say mortgage discrimination has contributed to the crisis in lending to borrowers with weak, or subprime, credit, in which many people are losing their homes.

The study, sponsored by Richmond, Va.-based mortgage insurer Genworth Financial, concluded that 48 percent of home loans given to blacks and nearly 42 percent of loans to Hispanics last year were "high-cost." That compares with 18 percent for whites and more than 24 percent for the overall population.

The analysis, which excludes refinances and second mortgages, uses the Federal Reserve's definition of high-cost loans: rates at least 3 percentage points above comparable Treasury securities. That includes most subprime loans, made to people with weak credit records.

Subprime lending to blacks nearly doubled from 2004 to 2005, and more than doubled among Hispanics, the study said.

"Some of those consumers could have been in prime loans with lower interest rates if they had been given the proper education about their options," said Lori Jones Gibbs, a Genworth vice president.

Consumer advocates say low-income borrowers and minorities are intentionally steered by unscrupulous lenders toward subprime loans. But Jones Gibbs instead stressed that consumer education for borrowers is crucial. And lenders generally say they examine borrowers' debt levels and down payments, rather than race, in mortgage decisions.

Total lending dropped nearly 12 percent in 2006 from a year earlier as the housing boom ended, the study found — but the number of home loans to blacks grew by 0.6 percent, while loans to Hispanics fell by more than 5 percent.