Subprime Mortgages, Foreclosures, and Urban Neighborhoods

Book excerpt: Analyzes the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis on urban neighborhoods in Mass. Explores the topic using a data set that matches race and income info. with property-level, transaction data. Much of the subprime lending in the state was concentrated in urban neighborhoods and that minority homeownerships created with subprime mortgages have proved exceptionally unstable in the face of rapid price declines. Subprime lending did not, as commonly believed, lead to a substantial increase in homeownership by minorities but instead generated turnover in properties owned by minority residents. The particularly dire foreclosure situation in urban neighborhoods actually makes it somewhat easier for policymakers to provide remedies. Illus.