Foreclosure-Response.org

What Market Data Can Help Inform Our Policy Response?

Once the places vulnerable to foreclosures have been identified, the next step is to assess the housing market conditions in these areas in order to craft an appropriate foreclosure response strategy.

Areas with a lot of private market activity and high demand for housing may quickly absorb any foreclosures; in these areas, there may be less of a need for a public sector response. In areas with very little market activity and few community assets, however, a more intensive strategy may be needed to stabilize neighborhoods and attract new residents. At the same time, some communities may decide that with limited public resources, they want to invest in neighborhoods that stand a good chance of recovering quickly. Whatever a community's strategy, the data provided below on market strength can be helpful in determine how to apply it.

Local, publicly available home sales data remain the best source for monitoring neighborhood housing market conditions. For communities that do not have access to these data, the housing market data provided through Foreclosure-Response.org provide a useful proxy.

Housing Market Data

These data include a housing market strength index and HMDA indicators of the strength of local demand for residential property, the median purchase loan amount, and the role that investor purchases play in an area's market for 1-4 family homes.

Foreclosure-Response.org offers downloadable data on several Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data elements that can be useful in developing an appropriate policy response. (A separate file for the housing market strength index is available upon request.)

Density of Home Purchase Loans --The number of home purchase loans made in a given area, relative to the number of 1-4 family homes in that area, signals the strength of local demand for residential property and may indicate areas that are better positioned than others to absorb foreclosed properties.

Median Purchase Loan Amount --This indicator shows the median purchase loan amount in 2009, an indicator of local demand for housing that may also provide a benchmark against which purchase prices for foreclosed properties can be negotiated.

Density of Investor Purchase Loans -- This indicator compares the number of purchase loans issued for properties that are not owner occupied with the number of 1-4 family homes in a given area, indicating the role that investors play in the area's housing market.

Click here to access HMDA data for download.

Vacancy Rates -- Another relevant indicator of market demand for housing is the vacancy rate. Foreclosure-Response.org does not provide direct access to vacancy rate data at this time, but please check back soon! In the meantime, you may access quarterly vacancy data from the U.S. Postal Service that is made publicly available through HUD USER. Click here to leave this site and access the HUD USER dataset.

Click here to leave this section and access data that can help identify areas with high foreclosure needs.

See a complete list of available maps and data.