Examining the Impact of the Housing Boom on Minority Neighborhood Access

Mary J. Fischer, University of Connecticut
Travis Lowe, University of Connecticut

Until quite recently, the U.S. had been experiencing the largest gains in home ownership since the post-war housing boom. Credit expansion over the past 10-15 years has given millions access to home ownership, arguably the staple of the American dream. These new homeowners include many minority and low-income individuals who had previously been shut out of the credit market. However, the extent to which this greater access to credit has translated into expanded access to white neighborhoods is unknown. This paper examines the types of neighborhoods that minorities have been able to access during this housing expansion and assesses the extent to which this increased home ownership has contributed to changes in segregation during the 1990s. Loan level data from the 1993-2005 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) are used, along with tract level data from the 2000 US Census.