Trends in residential segregation by race: 1960–1980

This article uses census tract data to examine recent trends in residential segregation by race. We find that the growing tendency toward more segregated living patterns, which characterized most of the postwar period, has been reversed. The redistribution of the white population toward more integrated neighborhoods gathered steam in the 1970s and a significant proportion of the black population shifted away from established ghetto areas. As a result, residential segregation by race was lower in 1980 than it was in 1970. Furthermore, it was lower in 1980 than it was in 1960 for the nation as a whole and for each of the census regions. But despite this progress, the majority of housing markets remain highly segregated today.     

Trends in residential segregation by race: 1960–1970

The study examines trends in the level of residential segregation by race in U.S. metropolitan areas. It finds that the majority of housing markets experienced an increase in segregation between 1960 and 1970. Established racial patterns were typically maintained, with black population growth accommodated by the peripheral expansion of minority areas. This general pattern of development occurred in both high- and low-income neighborhoods, and typically left the average black with fewer whites as neighbors. Although the average white was at the same time exposed to a slightly higher proportion of blacks, the vast majority of urban whites continued to live in racially segregated neighborhoods.     

Preliminary Evaluation of the HECM Reverse Mortgage Program

This paper describes and evaluates the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) insurance demonstration, designed to encourage the development of private reverse mortgage programs by insuring lenders against the risks associated with new mortgage lending programs and with reverse mortgages in particular. The paper evaluates demand for the program by analyzing the attributes of participating borrowers, their properties and the types of payment options chosen. It also presents several observations regarding participation by the financial community in the HECM demonstration, required counseling and legal and regulatory issues that may hamper the growth and development of reverse mortgage programs in general.
The findings suggest strong demand for reverse mortgages among "house-rich, cash-poor" elderly homeowners, either to supplement inadequate current incomes or to provide a reserve against unexpected lump-sum expenses. The flexible design of the HECM program addresses a wide variety of borrower financial needs, even though it imposes higher costs on lenders and servicers. The continued growth of the program, however, is hindered by a shortage of qualified housing counselors in some areas, as well as by a variety of legal and regulatory barriers.     

Segmentation in urban housing markets

This study tests the hypothesis that urban housing markets are segmented in the sense of significantly different prices per unit of housing services existing contemporaneously in spatially or structurally defined submarkets. Using an unusually rich data set for single-family, suburban Boston homes, significant differences in the prices of individual housing attributes are found; but these differences result in negligible differences in the overall price per unit of services. A main conclusion is that the market is working fairly efficiently to eliminate price premiums and discounts, at least in the portion of the market analyzed.