Challenges Facing Housing Markets in the Next Decade, Developing a Policy-Relevant Research Agenda

Outlines research questions in the areas of: the impact of the housing market crisis; rising poverty and income inequality and volatility; concentration of poor and minority households in distressed areas; and need for sustainable housing and communities

Improving U.S. Housing Finance Through Reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Assessing the Options

Presents criteria for evaluating proposals for reforming the two government-sponsored enterprises. Outlines the key arguments for their structural strengths and weaknesses, a framework and goals for reform, and features of specific proposals to date

Housing production subsidies and neighborhood revitalization: New York City's ten-year capital plan for housing

This paper was presented at the conference "Policies to Promote Affordable Housing," cosponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and New York University's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, February 7, 2002. It was part of Session 3: The Impact of Housing on People and Places.Housing - New York (N.Y.) ; Construction industry - New York (N.Y.) ; Housing subsidies ; Federal Reserve District, 2nd ; Housing - Finance

Do housing and social policies make households too small? Evidence from New York

How many adults should live in a house? How do people actually divide themselves up among households? Average household sizes vary substantially, both over time and in the cross-section. In New York City, we find that housing and income maintenance policies exert powerful influences on household size and composition -- more powerful than race, culture, or ethnicity. These policies make households smaller (measured by number of adults). We review arguments why governments might want to influence household sizes, and discern no reason for trying to make households smaller than they would be in the absence of these housing and income maintenance policies. Small average household size can be extremely expensive in terms of physical and environmental resources, higher rents, and possibly homelessness. Our results indicate that New York City may well have too much of it

What Do We Know About Housing Choice Voucher Program Location Outcomes?

Reviews research findings on the impact of vouchers on economic mobility, including voucher holders' distribution across neighborhoods, poverty and quality outcomes, and comparisons to place-based programs, as well as how voucher holders choose locations

The impact of foreclosures on the housing market

A record number of mortgage loans are either in default or in danger of being defaulted upon. Many of the properties that back these loans will end up going through the foreclosure process. A growing body of research shows that foreclosed homes sell at a discount and that foreclosures have a negative impact on the value of other homes that are nearby. The effect on nearby property values happens for two different reasons, but my recent work suggests that one or the other predominates depending on certain characteristics of the neighborhood where the foreclosures are occurring. This finding implies that different approaches might be required to mitigate the negative effects of foreclosures in different neighborhoods.Mortgage loans ; Foreclosure ; Housing - Finance

Five simple rules for evaluating complex community initiatives

Community development

Community change initiatives from 1990-2010: accomplishments and implications for future work

Community development