Cordoba, Hilton A.; Walter, Rebecca J.; Foote, Nathan S. (2018). The Residential Segregation of San Antonio, Texas in 1910: An Analysis Of Ethno-racial and Occupational Spatial Patterns with the Colocation Quotient. Urban Geography, 39(7), 988 – 1017.
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Abstract
The segregation of cities can be traced to a time when the compartmentalization of space and people was based on factors other than race. In segregation research, one of the limiting factors has always been the geographic scale of the data, and the limited knowledge that exists of segregation patterns when the household is the unit of analysis. Historical census data provides the opportunity to analyze the disaggregated information, and this paper does so with San Antonio during 1910. A spatial analysis of residential segregation based on race, ethnicity, and occupations is carried out with the colocation quotient to map and measure the attraction of residents. Results reveal the presence of residential segregation patterns on different sectors of the city based on households' ethno-racial and occupational attributes; therefore, providing evidence of the existence of residential segregation prior to the commonly cited determinants of segregation of the 20th century.
Keywords
Housing Tax Credit; Local Indicators; New York; Association; Indexes; Cities; Scale; City; Differentiation; Environment; Residential Segregation; Colocation Quotient; San Antonio; Spatial Analysis
Acolin, Arthur. (2020). Owning vs. Renting: The Benefits of Residential Stability? Housing Studies, 37(4), 644-647.
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Abstract
In housing research, owning, as compared to renting, is generally depicted as more desirable and associated with better outcomes. This paper explores differences in outcomes between owners and renters in 25 European countries and whether these differences are systematically smaller in countries in which owners and renters have more similar levels of residential stability (smaller tenure length gap). The results indicate that the direction of the relationship between tenure type and the selected outcomes is largely similar across countries. Owners generally exhibit more desirable outcomes (including life satisfaction, civic participation, educational outcomes for children, and physical and mental health). However, when looking at the relationship between outcomes and country level differences in tenure length gap, findings suggest that renters have outcomes that are more similar to owners in countries in which tenure length gaps are smaller. These results point to the potential benefits of policies that would increase residential stability, particularly for renters.
Keywords
European Union; Homeownership Benefits; Length Of Residence; Tenure; Home-ownership; Homeownership
Lacoe, Johanna; Bostic, Raphael W.; Acolin, Arthur. (2018). Crime and Private Investment in Urban Neighborhoods. Journal Of Urban Economics, 108, 154 – 169.
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Abstract
The question of how best to improve neighborhoods that lag behind has drawn considerable attention from policy-makers, practitioners, and academics, yet there remains a vigorous debate regarding the best approaches to accomplish community development. This paper investigates the role crime policy plays in shaping the trajectory of neighborhoods. Much of the existing research on neighborhood crime was conducted in rising-crime environments, and the evidence was clear: high levels of crime have adverse effects on neighborhoods and resident quality of life, This study examines how private investment in neighborhoods in two cities Chicago and Los Angeles changed as the incidence of neighborhood crime changed during the 2000s, a period when crime was declining city-wide in both places. Using detailed blockface-level data on the location of crime and private investments between 2006 and 2011, the analysis answers the question: Do changes in crime affect private development decisions? The results show that private investment, as represented by building permits, decreases on blocks where crime increases in the past year. We also find that the relationship between crime and private investment is not symmetric private investment appears to only be sensitive to crime in rising crime contexts. The result is present in both cities, and robust to multiple definitions of crime and the elimination of outliers and the main commercial district. These results suggest that crime-reduction policies can be an effective economic development tool, but only in certain neighborhoods facing specific circumstances.
Keywords
Enterprise Zones; Crime; Investment; Neighborhoods
Hess, Chris; Colburn, Gregg; Crowder, Kyle; Allen, Ryan. (2020). Racial Disparity in Exposure to Housing Cost Burden in the United States: 1980-2017. Housing Studies.
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Abstract
This article uses the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to analyse Black-White differences in housing cost burden exposure among renter households in the USA from 1980 to 2017, expanding understanding of this phenomenon in two respects. Specifically, we document how much this racial disparity changed among renters over almost four decades and identify how much factors associated with income or housing costs explain Black-White inequality in exposure to housing cost burden. For White households, the net contribution of household, neighbourhood and metropolitan covariates accounts for much of the change in the probability of housing cost burden over time. For Black households, however, the probability of experiencing housing cost burden continued to rise throughout the period of this study, even after controlling for household, neighbourhood and metropolitan covariates. This suggests that unobserved variables like racial discrimination, social networks or employment quality might explain the increasing disparity in cost burden among for Black and White households in the USA.
Keywords
Cost Burden; Housing Cost; Racial Inequality; Income Inequality; Rent Burden; Affordability; Neighborhoods; Segregation; Dynamics; Hardship; Prices; Market; Poor
Walter, Rebecca J. (2018). Consolidating Zip Codes For Small Area Fair Market Rents: A Method For Implementing The New Rule. Housing Policy Debate, 28(4), 553 – 571.
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Abstract
Fair Market Rents (FMRs), calculated for an entire metropolitan region, are used to establish payment standards for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. In response to recent criticism that FMRs do not represent rent disparity and restrict households from moving to high-opportunity areas, a new rule introducing Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) has been issued. SAFMRs are based on ZIP codes to reflect local market rents and increase the number of payment standards used to administer the HCV program. The purpose of this research is to determine whether the number of payment standards can be reduced by consolidating ZIP codes, while adhering to the primary objectives of the SAFMR rule. The ZIP code grouping process conducted offers one method for reducing the number of payment standards needed to implement the new rule; however, the rent analysis reveals the over- and underestimation of SAFMRs for some ZIP codes.
Keywords
Vouchers; Price; U.S Department Of Housing And Urban Development; Housing Choice Voucher Program; Fair Market Rents; Small Area Fair Market Rents; Standards; Markets; Payments; Housing; Households; Criticism; Metropolitan Areas; Postal Codes; State Court Decisions; Rents; Housing Policy; Rules
Martins, Antonio Miguel; Serra, Ana Paula; Martins, Francisco Vitorino; Stevenson, Simon. (2020). House Price Dynamics and Bank Herding: European Empirical Evidence. Journal Of Real Estate Research, 42(3), 365 – 396.
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Abstract
This paper examines house price dynamics, bank herding behavior, and the linkages between them. The analysis presented indicates that prior to the financial crisis, non-fundamental factors played a significant role in several European countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and Ireland. We also provide evidence indicative of herding behavior in the residential mortgage loan market. Finally, Granger causality tests show that non-fundamentally justified price dynamics contributed to the herding displayed by lenders and that this behavior was a response by banks as a group to common information on residential property assets.
Keywords
Bubbles; Market; Behavior; Fundamentals; Constraints; Policy; Model; House Prices; Mortgages; Price Bubble; Herding Behavior
Acolin, Arthur. (2019). Housing Trajectories of Immigrants and Their Children in France: Between Integration and Stratification. Urban Studies (sage Publications, Ltd.), 56(10), 2021 – 2039.
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Abstract
Immigrants have been found to exhibit different housing tenure patterns from the rest of the population in a number of contexts. This article tests whether observed differences in tenure in France can be explained by differences in socio-demographic characteristics or whether unexplained differences might result from housing market mechanisms that affect immigrants differentially from the rest of the population, and extends this to the second generation. The article relies on data from TeO, a survey of 21,761 persons designed to oversample and identify immigrants and their children, providing information about the outcomes of children of immigrants that is otherwise lacking in French statistics. The results indicate that while immigrants are significantly less likely to be homeowners, even after controlling for compositional difference, the gap in homeownership between the second generation and the rest of the population is smaller and not statistically significant. This suggests a progressive integration in the housing market over time and over generations rather than overall stratified housing trajectories. Differences in terms of the share of social housing residents, the level of residential crowding, and housing and neighbourhood characteristics also decline across generations. However, children of immigrants from some non-European origins are experiencing higher levels of stratification than other groups, with continued significant differences in tenure.
Keywords
Immigrants; Housing; Home Ownership; Children Of Immigrants; Housing Market; Social Stratification; France; Homeownership; Housing Trajectories; Tenure; Segmented Assimilation; Location Choices; Wealth; 2nd-generation; Discrimination; Segregation; Inequality; Quality; Markets; Demographics; Homeowners; Neighborhoods; Crowding; Statistical Analysis; Residential Patterns; Children; Trajectories; Residents; Residential Areas; Integration; Statistics; European Cultural Groups; Sociodemographics; Stratification; Demographic Aspects; Second Generation; Property; Public Housing; Noncitizens
Shang, Luming; Lee, Hyun Woo; Dermisi, Sofia; Choe, Youngjun. (2020). Impact of Energy Benchmarking and Disclosure Policy on Office Buildings. Journal Of Cleaner Production, 250.
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Abstract
Building energy benchmarking policies require owners to publicly disclose their building's energy performance. In the US, the adoption of such policies is contributing to an increased awareness among tenants and buyers and is expected to motivate the owners of less efficient buildings to invest in energy efficiency improvements. However, there is a lack of studies specifically aimed at investigating the impact of such policies on office buildings among major cities through quantitative analyses. In response, this study evaluated the effectiveness of the benchmarking policy on energy efficiency improvements decision-making and on real estate performances, by applying two interrupted time series analyses to office buildings in downtown Chicago. The initial results indicate a lack of statistically strong evidence that the policy affected the annual vacancy trend of the energy efficient buildings (represented by ENERGY STAR labeled buildings). However, the use of interrupted time series in a more in-depth analysis shows that the policy is associated with a 6.7% decrease in vacancy among energy efficient buildings. The study proposed a method to quantitatively evaluate the impact of energy policies on the real estate performance of office buildings, and the result confirms the positive impact of energy-efficient retrofits on the real estate performance. The study findings support the reasoning behind the owners' decision in implementing energy efficiency improvements in their office buildings to remain competitive in the market. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Office Buildings; Building Failures; Time Series Analysis; Real Property; Energy Consumption; Metropolis; Building Performance; Chicago (ill.); Building Energy Benchmarking And Disclosure Policies; Building Energy Efficiency; Time Series Modeling; Energy Star (program); Building Management Systems; Buildings (structures); Decision Making; Energy Conservation; Maintenance Engineering; Time Series; Disclosure Policy; Energy Benchmarking Policies; Building; Benchmarking Policy; Energy Efficiency Improvements Decision-making; Estate Performance; Energy Efficient Buildings; Energy Star; Energy Policies; Energy-efficient Retrofits; Interrupted Time-series; Regression; Behavior; Designs; Building Energy Benchmarking And; Disclosure Policies; Buildings; Cities; Energy Efficiency; Energy Policy; Markets; Quantitative Analysis; United States
Acolin, Arthur; Goodman, Laurie; Wachter, Susan M. (2019). Accessing Homeownership with Credit Constraints. Housing Policy Debate, 29(1), 108 – 125.
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Abstract
The tightening of mortgage credit in the aftermath of the global financial crisis has been identified as a factor in the decline of homeownership in the United States to 50-year lows. In this article, we review findings about the role of borrowing constraints and tightened credit in lowering access to homeownership. We also discuss how institutional changes could hinder or support this access going forward.
Keywords
Borrowing Constraints; Home Ownership; Mortgage; Model; Race; Homeownership; Credit Access; International Finance; Economic Crisis; Property; Aftermath; Access; Credit; Access To Credit; Economic Models; United States--us
Acolin, Arthur; Ramiller, Alex; Walter, Rebecca J; Thompson, Samantha; Wang, Ruoniu. (2021). Transitioning to Homeownership: Asset Building for Low- and Moderate-Income Households. Housing Policy Debate, 31(6), 1032 – 1049.
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Abstract
This article assesses the asset building of households that take part in shared-equity homeownership (SEH) models. The contribution of this article is a comparison of outcomes for households participating in shared-equity programs with other low- and moderate-income households who rent or own properties without restrictions on appreciation. We matched participants in SEH programs to households with similar characteristics from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) over the 1997-2017 period. The findings indicate that in real terms, median SEH homeowners accumulated about $1,700 in housing wealth annually or around $10,000 during their holding period. This amount is lower than the $2,100 median annual gain in home equity experienced by similar PSID owners but statistically and economically significantly larger than the $16 in annual gain experienced by similar PSID renters. The findings provide evidence that households participating in SEH programs experienced positive, but modest, wealth gains that were slightly lower than those of homeowners in unrestricted units but substantially higher than those of renters.
Keywords
Appreciation; Households; Property; Wealth; Income; Housing; Dynamic Tests; Home Ownership; Assets; Tenants; Equity; Owners