ABSTRACT

For 3 decades, U.S. federal housing policies have sought to increase access to socially diverse and high opportunity neighborhoods and improve the quality of life for low-income families. Absent from current discussions of the costs and benefits of socially mixed communities is the potential value that they may have to low-income families seeking to purchase their own homes. In this paper, we examine the extent to which participation in homebuyer education and counseling programs supports sustainable low-income homeownership in socially mixed neighborhoods. Using quasi-experimental methodologies and longitudinal data from the Denver Housing Study for a sample of 533 low-income homebuyers, this study examines whether, compared with a comparison group of public housing residents who purchased homes on their own, participants in Denver Housing Authority’s (DHA) homebuyer education and counseling program (HOP) were (1) more likely to purchase homes in socially mixed destination neighborhoods; and (2) sustain homeownership over time. Results show that low-income homebuyers purchased homes in destination neighborhoods characterized by considerable ethnic and income mix. When compared to non-HOP homebuyers, HOP homebuyers also were better off in terms of 2018 home value appreciation and fewer foreclosures, suggesting that homebuyer education and counseling improves long-term sustainability of homeownership.

摘要

3 年来，美国联邦住房政策一直在寻求增加进入社会多元化和高机会社区的机会，并提高低收入家庭的生活质量。目前关于社会混合社区的成本和收益的讨论中没有提到他们可能对寻求购买自己房屋的低收入家庭的潜在价值。在本文中，我们研究了参与购房者教育和咨询计划在多大程度上支持社会混合社区中可持续的低收入房屋所有权。本研究使用来自丹佛住房研究的准实验方法和纵向数据，对 533 名低收入购房者的样本进行了检验，与自行购买住房的公共住房居民的对照组相比，丹佛住房管理局 (DHA) 购房者教育和咨询计划 (HOP) 的参与者 (1) 更有可能在社会混合的目的地社区购买房屋；(2) 随着时间的推移维持房屋所有权。结果表明，低收入购房者在目的地社区购买的房屋具有相当大的种族和收入组合。与非 HOP 购房者相比，HOP 购房者在 2018 年房屋价值升值和止赎减少方面也更好，这表明购房者教育和咨询提高了购房的长期可持续性。结果表明，低收入购房者在目的地社区购买的房屋具有相当大的种族和收入组合。与非 HOP 购房者相比，HOP 购房者在 2018 年房屋价值升值和止赎减少方面也更好，这表明购房者教育和咨询提高了购房的长期可持续性。结果表明，低收入购房者在目的地社区购买的房屋具有相当大的种族和收入组合。与非 HOP 购房者相比，HOP 购房者在 2018 年房屋价值升值和止赎减少方面也更好，这表明购房者教育和咨询提高了购房的长期可持续性。