Abstract
Federal housing policy has for many generations encouraged owner occupancy over rental tenure. Since the 1980s, however, federal policies have explicitly extended this encouragement to households of ever-lower incomes. During the Reagan administration, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) piloted a program for selling public housing units to their occupants. In 1991 Congress established goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for the purchasing of mortgages originated for low-income borrowers and for homes located in traditionally underserved (that is, low-income and minority occupied) urban neighborhoods, in an attempt to ease potential liquidity constraints in these market segments. Substantial results have followed, often spawned by innovations in low down payment mortgage instruments. The Clinton administration set a national homeownership goal, and the Bush administration has placed the expansion of low-income and minority homeownership at the core of HUD's mission.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Urban and Regional Policy and Its Effects. Vol. 1 |
Editors | Margery Austin Turner, Howard Wial, Harold Wolman |
Place of Publication | U.S. |
Publisher | Brookings Institution Press |
Pages | 60-108 |
Number of pages | 49 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780815701583 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780815786016 |
Publication status | Published - 2008 |