Intrametropolitan Patterns of Foreclosed Homes: ZIP-Code-Level Distributions of Real-Estate-Owned (REO) Properties during the U.S. Mortgage Crisis. Community Affairs Discussion Paper No. 01-09

摘要

During the mortgage crisis, community developers, policymakers, and others have become increasingly concerned about the extent to which lender-owned homes, often called real-estate-owned or REO properties, have accumulated in their neighborhoods and communities. REO properties are usually vacant and, especially when geographically concentrated, can have destabilizing impacts on neighborhoods and communities. However, due to data challenges, little systematic research has been done on the intrametropolitan distributions of such properties, especially across different metropolitan regions. This paper describes the accumulation of REO within different parts of metropolitan areas as of November 2008. First, the urban-versus-suburban distribution of REO is found to vary significantly across metropolitan areas. In general, in traditionally weak-market metrosmany of which had substantial REO levels before the advent of the national mortgage crisis--REO tend to be relatively concentrated in central cities. Conversely, in regions where REO accumulated more recently and in those with high central-city housing prices, REO tend to be somewhat more suburbanized. Second, while ZIP codes with high REO densities are disproportionately located in central cities, this pattern varies significantly across metropolitan areas. In particular, in the formerly hot-market regions where home values have declined rapidly, a large majority of ZIP codes with severe REO levels are suburban.