Deirdre Pfeiffer

The Trajectory of REOs in Southern California Latino Neighborhoods: An Uneven Geography of Recovery

Although a rich literature exists on the determinants and effects of concentrated foreclosures, little is known about what drives variation in how long real estate owned (REO) properties take to sell and to whom, particularly in Latino communities heavily affected by the current foreclosure crisis. This research employs multilevel and event history modeling to assess the factors associated with recent REOs’ likelihood of sale, sale to an investor, and sale to a Spanish-surname household in a sample of majority Latino Southern California neighborhoods. Properties in inner-city and exurban Latino neighborhoods with larger black population shares were less likely to sell and more likely to sell to investors if they did, while those located in lower poverty, largely Latino communities were more likely to sell to Spanish-surname households. These results suggest that the crisis is both exacerbating existing patterns of inequality and segregation while enabling Latinos’ homeownership in potentially socioeconomic mobility-enabling areas.

Is Investor Purchasing of Foreclosures Related to Neighborhood Crime? Evidence From a Phoenix Suburb

Little is known about how investors purchasing foreclosures during the recent U.S. housing crisis are affecting neighborhood crime. While they may decrease crime by reducing vacancies or bettering neighborhood conditions, they may increase it by escalating neighborhood turnover. Combining local police department data on calls for service with foreclosure, home sales, and sociodemographic data, this research uses longitudinal modeling to assess the relation between the purchasing of foreclosures by investors and calls for service in neighborhoods in Chandler, Arizona, a Phoenix suburb where investors are renting former foreclosures. Neighborhoods where foreclosures were more often purchased by investors had more calls for service about violent crime the following year.

HAS EXURBAN GROWTH ENABLED GREATER RACIAL EQUITY IN NEIGHBORHOOD QUALITY? EVIDENCE FROM THE LOS ANGELES REGION

ABSTRACT: A wealth of data drawn from cities and their nearby suburbs show that, consistent with place stratification theory, African Americans live in poorer quality communities than similarly affluent members of other racial groups. Yet, few have examined whether these trends are playing out in the rapidly growing exurbs, places that emerged in the post-Civil Rights era. Through a case study of African American migration to Los Angeles’s exurban Inland Empire, this article tests the applicability of place stratification theory by triangulating evidence from interviews with 70 movers with U.S. Census and American Community Survey data. Both sources reveal that the gap in neighborhood conditions among similar income racial groups is much narrower in the exurbs than inner city Los Angeles or its nearby suburbs, an outcome that participants attributed to the region’s rapid housing construction, relative lack of a history of who lives where, and resulting neighborhood diversity.

Retrofitting suburbia through second units: lessons from the Phoenix region

Planners are encouraging suburban homeowners to build second units to enable housing affordability, walkability, and aging in place. Yet, little is known about the viability of this approach for different types of suburbs. Based on planner interviews and zoning ordinance reviews in the Phoenix region, this article constructs a typology for identifying suburbs potentially amenable to using second units as a tool. Barriers that limit rezoning to allow for second units across the types include restrictive site requirements and fear of rental units. Arguments for aging in place may be more influential than those for housing affordability in leading suburbs in Phoenix and elsewhere to liberalize their regulations.

Building Bridges to the Middle Class: The Role of Community-Based Organizations in Asian American Wealth Accumulation

Despite the increasing provision of social and financial services by community-based organizations (CBOs), few studies focus on the roles that Asian American—serving CBOs play in helping their economically and culturally diverse communities accumulate wealth. The authors explore this overlooked sector by interviewing key informants in 30 mostly Asian American asset-building organizations nationwide. Participating CBOs respond to the financial needs of their diverse communities primarily in three ways: (a) adapting programs for the underserved, (b) facilitating access to the mainstream, and (c) preserving existing assets. Unlike mainstream banks, they use a comprehensive asset-building framework premised on extensive technical assistance and culturally congruent programming. The interviewed organizations face a variety of challenges in implementing programs-namely, maintaining financial solvency and working with limited capacity—issues that they struggle to overcome through forming collaborations and partnerships, earned income strategies, obtaining certification, and cross-training.

An unexpected geography of opportunity in the wake of the foreclosure crisis: low-income renters in investor-purchased foreclosures in Phoenix, Arizona

During the recent United States foreclosure crisis, investors purchased and leased thousands of homes nationwide, opening up formerly owner-occupied neighborhoods to renters. Yet, little is known about how this process affected regional patterns of residential segregation and inequality. In this study, we combine property-level data on real estate transactions and subsidized housing vouchers from 2004 to 2014 to assess whether the conversion of foreclosures to rentals enabled low-income renters to live in more advantaged neighborhoods in Phoenix, Arizona. Renters with vouchers living in investor-purchased foreclosures were in lower-poverty neighborhoods compared with those not living in investor-purchased foreclosures. This suggests that foreclosure sales may have widened the geography of opportunity for low-income renters with subsidized housing.

Housing Disinvestment and Crime in a Phoenix Suburb: Exploring the Differential Effects of Investors and Owner-Occupants

External investment in neighborhoods can inhibit crime. However, during the housing crisis, many investors were foreclosed upon, triggering large-scale community disinvestment. Yet the impact of this type of disinvestment on crime is currently unknown. Combining data on crime incidents with foreclosure, home sales, and sociodemographic data, this research assesses whether the foreclosure of properties owned by investors has an effect on crime in neighborhoods in Chandler, Arizona, a suburb in the heavily affected Phoenix region. Neighborhoods with a greater proportion of foreclosures on investors (FOIs) have higher total and property crime rates in the short term. In Hispanic neighborhoods, a greater proportion of FOIs result in lower rates of crime. Results suggest that neighborhood stabilization efforts should consider the role of investors in driving short-term crime rates, and that police and code enforcement strategies might prioritize neighborhoods with a high proportion of investor foreclosures.

Breaking the Double Impasse: Securing and Supporting Diverse Housing Tenures in the United States

Abstract What might be described as a double impasse characterizes debate on U.S. housing tenure with advocates fighting for rental or ownership housing on one side and Third Way or mixed-tenure solutions on the other. Breaking this impasse requires disengaging from conceptions of an idealized form of tenure and instead advocating making virtually all tenures as secure and supported as possible, so that diverse households are able to live in homes that best fit their changing needs over their life cycles. This essay (a) presents data on the variety of tenures in the United States; (b) conveys a new two-dimensional map of tenure according to their degrees of control and potential for wealth-building; and (c) shows how U.S. institutions shape their risks and subsidies. Most U.S. tenures are at least somewhat risky, including those that receive the greatest federal subsidies. A new housing system is needed to secure and support as many tenures as possible.

Racial equity in the post-civil rights suburbs? Evidence from US regions 2000–2012

Minority suburbanites in the US have historically lived in more disadvantaged neighbourhoods than Whites. Yet, those in suburbs that came of age after the 1960s civil rights era may be experiencing more equal outcomes. Using US Census data and descriptive statistics, this research tests whether post-civil rights suburbs had greater racial equity in neighbourhood poverty, college educated, and homeownership rates relative to central cities and older suburbs in 88 regions from 2000 to 2012. Minorities typically experienced better and more equitable neighbourhood conditions in the post-civil rights suburbs, with African American and low-income households accruing the greatest gains. Ordinary least squares regression modelling reveals that post-civil rights suburbs’ newer housing stock and greater racial integration and income equality contributed to their greater racial equity.

Ethnically bounded homeownership: qualitative insights on Los Angeles immigrant homeowners’ experiences during the U.S. Great Recession

Abstract Immigrant homeowners’ function within ethnic boundaries in the housing market may have helped or hindered them during the recent U.S. Great Recession. This research explores this theme through interviews with immigrant and non-immigrant homeowners from four ethnic communities in Los Angeles County and the non-profit organizations that tried to assist them. Immigrant homeowners turned to co-ethnics for advice and support and formed multigenerational households as a strategy to achieve and sustain homeownership. Language and cultural barriers primed them for risky loans and thwarted their pursuit of refinance and modification when they struggled to make mortgage payments. These findings conform to existing evidence of ethnic segmentation in the housing market and imply that analyses of home buying and homeownership in areas with significant immigrant populations should factor in the role of ethnicity.