Low-Income Homeownership: Examining The Goal

A generation ago little attention was focused on low-income homeownership. Today homeownership rates among under-served groups, including low-income households and minorities, have risen to record levels. These groups are no longer at the margin of the housing market; they have benefited from more flexible underwriting standards and greater access to credit. However, there is still a racial/ethnic gap and the homeownership rates of minority and low-income households are still well below the national average. "Low-Income Homeownership takes a hard-nosed look at the conventional wisdom that homeownership is an integral part of the American dream and concludes that homeownership is good for low-income buyers, their communities, and the nation as a whole. This collection of writings by some of today's foremost housing experts not only documents the benefits of homeownership, it also candidly documents the risks...."—Jack Kemp, former secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The forward and first chapter are available online.

Thanks to Brookings Institution