OUP - Abstract

Public Policy Issues Related to FHA Financing: FHA Borrowers, FHA Loan Limit and Homeownership

Dissertation School: Cornell University

Pages: 438

Publication Date: August 1995

Availability:
Available from the HUD USER Helpdesk P.O. Box 23268 Washington, DC 20026-3268 Toll Free: 1-800-245-2691 Fax: 1-202-708-9981 Email: oup@oup.org

Access Number: 8867

Descriptors:
Default rates. Delinquent mortgages. FHA Mortgage programs

Abstract:
This doctoral dissertation examines three public policy questions related to the FHA's mortgage insurance programs: (1) it describes the individual and neighborhood characteristics of the markets that the FHA serves; (2) it analyzes the effects of limiting the maximum loan amount based on housing cost on the mortgage activity of low-and moderate-income loan applicants; and (3) it examines the effect of FHA mortgage activity on home ownership rates. The analysis covers FHA and other federal mortgage insurance programs. Only home purchase loans for owner-occupied properties were investigated. The analysis was done with a multi-stage process in order to control for other factors that might affect an individual's mortgage choice. Two different data sets were used: 1990 and 1991 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data and the Metropolitan American Housing Survey (AHS) for the years 1984 through 1991. The analysis of the 1990 and 1991 HMDA data showed that black applicants were more likely to use FHA loans than their white counterparts within the same neighborhood. Using the Metropolitan AHS data for the years 1984 through 1991, black borrowers were also found to be more likely to get FHA loans than their white counterparts, controlling for their default risk as well as property characteristics. Analysis at the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level for both data sets suggested that the FHA loan limit and low-and moderate-income borrowers' FHA activity were significantly correlated in low house value MSA's. [AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED]

Back to Search Result of DDRG Dissertations