The latest perspectives, news, success stories and resources from around the organization.
“Middle Neighborhoods” or middle markets are an important focus for many of the cities in which we have conducted MVAs. These areas fall somewhere on the MVA spectrum from relatively strong to showing only modest levels of distress. They are home to many city residents, oftentimes the majority of a city’s population, and they tend to be more racially integrated than other parts of cities. But they are generally not places where federal programs or philanthropic attention is focused.
Back in May, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia hosted a conference titled “Gentrification and Neighborhood Change.” Other sponsors of the event were the NYU Furman Center, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and HUD. There were several pieces of research presented on topics related to gentrification. (Conference website: http://bit.ly/2bqazKE)
In many of the cities where we work, the MVA is both a strategic tool to guide community investment and a framework to raise data-informed awareness about housing and community development needs and opportunities. The MVA we completed in Jacksonville, FL last year was an exemplary case of a foundation (Jessie Ball duPont Fund) and city officials using the creation of an MVA to engage local stakeholders in new ways and to lay the groundwork for a re-energized approach to housing and community development efforts.
A study just released by the Pew Charitable Trusts (http://goo.gl/S2Mufe) uses Reinvestment Fund’s Displacement Risk Ratio (DRR) to analyze gentrification and other types of neighborhood change in Philadelphia since the year 2000. The report found that gentrification, when defined as a neighborhood’s shift from a mostly low-income population to a middle or high-income one, was relatively limited. It also found that the speed and scope of the process varied substantially from one gentrified neighborhood to another. The DRR (referred to as the ‘affordability index’ in the report), was essential to understanding those variations, and the implications for longtime residents
Mortgages are the lifeblood of the real estate market. Since 1975, Mortgage lenders have been required to collect data on the characteristics of mortgage borrowers and to disclose that information to the public. These data provide a wealth of information about who in your city is applying for purchase and refinance mortgages, who is being denied mortgages, and the names of the top lenders in your city.
Earlier this week I posted about our recent work mapping access to childcare. I asked our research staff to write a few lessons learned for folks interested in performing a similar analysis in their city:
There’s nothing simple about supply. In Philadelphia we discovered a large number (about 27% of the total supply of childcare) of “uncertified” providers flying under the state’s regulatory radar. To help map their contribution to childcare supply we had to rely on business records from third-party providers like the National Establishment Time Series (NETS) and InfoUSA. Business records are messy, but helped provide a deeper insight into each city’s market for early childhood education.
Although it’s not directly related to real estate, I thought the group might be interested in some new tools we just released to map and measure access to early childhood education. Improving access to high quality education is a critical part of making cities and neighborhoods more desirable places to live. Moreover, all states under the Child Care and Development Block Grant program must measure and address access to childcare shortages.
Making informed choices about neighborhood improvement strategies is an important agenda item for city governments and other stakeholders concerned with neighborhood improvement. Over the past eight months, I have been working with the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank and the American Assembly, to produce a book of readings from experts regarding neighborhood improvement strategies in America’s legacy cities.
In 2014, the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation engaged Reinvestment Fund and Success Measures at NeighborWorks America to jointly evaluate the impact of its grantmaking and related programs from 2003 to 2013, to determine if practices in its approach could be transferred to other regions, and to assess its influence in the field. The Wells Fargo Regional Foundation has a well-established continuum of grantmaking and technical-assistance programs designed to improve the quality of life for children and families living in low-income communities in eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. The evaluation examined lessons from 140 grants, totaling $41.69 million, that enabled hundreds of projects in the region and leveraged $231.5 million in direct and indirect neighborhood investment.
While many census tracts in Camden were eligible for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2), the City of Camden elected to focus its investment activities on a few target areas. Working with The Reinvestment Fund, the City of Camden sought to first understand market conditions and, depending on the causes of market stress, deploy specific strategies to address the issues plaguing its neighborhoods.
Six years after the Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program’s inception, Philadelphia homeowners continue to face many challenges. Unemployment remains elevated, and the incomes for middle class households, in real terms, have fallen. The rise of mortgage products like the reverse mortgage has the potential to threaten homeownership and equity for vulnerable populations. The Diversion Program remains one of the central protections for all Philadelphia homeowners—especially for the vulnerable populations.
In Philadelphia, the Department of Licenses and Inspections has engaged in a novel and geographically targeted enforcement effort utilizing a 2010 Pennsylvania law (PA Act 90) combined with the city’s property and maintenance code.
Reinvestment Fund’s Ira Goldstein presented data on the 5-year accomplishments of Philadelphia’s Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program at the anniversary celebration on June 12, 2013. Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, headlined the event alongside a homeowner in foreclosure whose home was saved by the program. The event was attended by several hundred people and was covered by numerous media outlets including ABC News and Philly.com.
Reinvestment Fund analyzed Pennsylvania’s Homeowner’s Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP) with support from the William Penn Foundation. The summary findings include that from 2008 to 2010, HEMAP saved more than 6,100 Pennsylvania homeowners from foreclosure. The number of homes saved from foreclosure by HEMAP amounted to between 4.6% and 5.1% of the total inventory of homes in foreclosure. The report also found that the program averted a combined $480 million in financial impact of foreclosures.
With grants from the Open Society Institute and the William Penn Foundation, Reinvestment Fund assessed the outcomes and impacts of the Philadelphia Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program. As part of the study, we reviewed Court Orders on nearly 16,000 cases handled by the Diversion Program from inception through March of 2011 and conducted interviews with homeowners as well as experts.
Courts and advocates across the country have dedicated significant resources to the development of diversion/mediation processes designed to facilitate homeowner participation in the foreclosure process. With funding from the Open Society Institute and the William Penn Foundation, Reinvestment Fund has sought to help answer the question: what is the effect of this work – does mediation make a difference? This paper was shared during an interactive webinar hosted by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC).
Chapter by Reinvestment Fund’s Ira Goldstein for the book REO & Vacant Properties: Strategies for Neighborhood Stabilization, a joint publication of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston and Cleveland and the Federal Reserve Board. Dr. Goldstein’s chapter discusses using the MVA as a means to strategize the targeting of resources under the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
The Redevelopment and Housing Authorities of the County of Cumberland (RHACC) contracted with Reinvestment Fund to gather and analyze housing and economic data descriptive of Cumberland and Perry counties. The data is tabulated and mapped / charted in this presentation. A summary of the report is also available.
Presentation by Reinvestment Fund’s Ira Goldstein as part of Picking Up the Pieces: Partnering with Faith-based Organizations to Respond to the Housing Crisis presented to the Homeownership Counseling Association of Delaware Valley, the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporation, and the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives.
Reinvestment Fund helped DCED develop its NSP plans by devising a data-driven method for prioritizing where funds should be spent within each county to increase the likelihood of market stability. This presentation shows how to use this in-depth analysis as well as the host of GIS data in www.policymap.com to better understand foreclosure and market dynamics. Presented at the 2009 PA Chapter of American Planning Association Annual Conference, “Investing in a Sustainable Future” by Ira Goldstein and Elizabeth Nash.
Presentation shared at the Wachovia Regional Foundation Grantee Conference. The presentation, given by Ira Goldstein, compares today’s economic environment to past years, highlighting unemployment rates, personal income, and median home purchase mortgage amounts.
Presentation by Ira Goldstein given at the “Reclaiming Vacant Properties: Building Leadership to Restore Communities” conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The session “Property Interventions and Restoring Neighborhood Confidence” looked at real life examples of neighborhood confidence-building strategies. Dr. Goldstein’s presentation focused on the West Oak Lane Neighborhood in Philadelphia.
Presentation by Ira Goldstein given at the “Philadelphia’s Vital Neighborhoods: Taking a Closer Look at Why Middle-Income Markets are Critical to Our City’s Future” convening hosted by Neighborhoods Now. The presentation offers an approach to understanding how to identify and deploy resources to the city of Philadelphia’s vital, middle-market neighborhoods in an effort to preserve the stability and enhance attractiveness to existing and new Philadelphia residents.
Ira Goldstein’s presentation shared at the Federal Reserve System’s Community Affairs Officers Conference held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. The presentation was part of a panel discussion outlining the current challenges in stabilizing neighborhoods impacted by high foreclosure rates.
Ira Goldstein’s presentation at the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency’s Housing Forum. The session “The Road Ahead: Rental Housing Needs and Markets” looked at rental housing needs, population trends and examines new strategies that communities are implementing to leverage properties as assets. This presentation highlights PA population trends and the housing needs for different income levels.
Study of mortgage foreclosure filings in Maryland on behalf of the Baltimore Homeownership Preservation Coalition (BHPC). Led by Ira Goldstein, the study provides an in-depth look at the City of Baltimore, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County. A detailed executive summary is also available for download.
Paper commissioned by Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity that explores the civil rights aspect of foreclosures. The paper draws from Reinvestment Fund’s work in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and looks at the role deregulation and the lack of federal law enforcement played in creating the subprime lending and mortgage foreclosure crisis.
Study examines whether (or the extent to which) there are economic reasons for the lack of supermarkets in distressed urban areas, such as location-dependent expense differences between urban and suburban locations. We also explore how various financing strategies help to mitigate those expense differences. Finally, we assess some of the impacts of supermarket development in urban and other underserved places.
Study of mortgage foreclosure filings in Newark, NJ for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. This report distills recent trends in mortgage origination, delinquency and foreclosures in Newark from a variety of data sources. It provides a context of changes in the local real estate market to assist policymakers design an appropriate set of responses to counter the adverse impacts of foreclosures in Newark.
An increase in the delinquency rate for all mortgages in the District of Columbia over 2007 have resulted in more home foreclosures. Foreclosures can have a negative imact on neighborhoods and the entire city. This study offers an overview of subprime lending; a look at subprime lending in DC; and recommendations for how DC can help current and future borrowers. The study was conducted for the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking.
Study of mortgage foreclosures in New Jersey for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and the Ford Foundation. Our singular purpose was to add a measure of systematic and objective data analysis to the mortgage foreclosure problem facing New Jersey. As is often the case, by the time the study is complete, the problem is not what it was when the study began. That is uniquely true in this instance. The overall magnitude of the mortgage foreclosure problem, nationally and in New Jersey, has increased substantially over the last 18 months.
Detailed local case study of predatory lending that includes the analysis of complete mortgage and sale histories for 15,500 properties in the city of Philadelphia from 2000 to 2003 as well as interviews with a broad range of subject experts.
Study for Housing Opportunities, Inc., with funding from The Heinz Endowments. This report seeks to answer critical questions regarding the low rates of African American homeownership in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
A report by the Building Industry Association of Philadelphia that proposes ten fixes to improve and streamline the development process in Philadelphia. The report aims to eliminate or change steps in the process that unnecessarily add to the cost of a home and otherwise deter developers from building or rehabilitating houses in the city.
Metropolitan Philadelphia is a place with extraordinary assets. It should be a region of choice, but it’s not. Our region has seen minimal population growth and alarmingly low job growth. What’s growing most rapidly is sprawl, and it’s hurting our region. It’s time to think differently and make some big, positive changes.
This report provides quantitative and qualitative data to forecast employer hiring needs in information technology and customer service occupations. It concludes that both these occupations cut across all industries and that the demand for these workers would continue based on favorable economic growth.