| t the end of the last century, the U.S. housing market was volatile. The average price of housing increased by 50 percent, while the national rate of loans entering foreclosure was 0.3 percent. Across the nation, local housing markets displayed uneven gains in housing prices as foreclosure impacted neighborhoods differently. The scope and varying contexts surrounding foreclosure activity between 2003 and 2007 present an opportunity to expand the core knowledge of housing studies. What is largely absent from the current housing analysis is the geographical impact of the contemporary mortgage distress on housing prices and ownership. This research examines the impact of foreclosure on housing prices and homeownership at the neighborhood level analyzing concentration, proximity and length of foreclosure while controlling for the temporal, neighborhood, and housing characteristics. The empirical analysis of the issue used local data and contextual templates from Charlotte, North Carolina.;The research findings indicate that proximity to and proportion of foreclosures in a neighborhood had the greatest negative impact on housing prices in neighborhoods with housing valued at less than... |
