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GAO-20-544R 1 (2020-06-25)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaebkk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 June 25, 2020 Congressional Requesters HOUSING: Preliminary Analysis of Homeownership Trends for Nine Cities Owning a home has been one of the primary ways Americans built wealth and financial security. This is one reason why the availability and price of housing is consequential to both households and policymakers. Since the 2007-2009 financial crisis, the national homeownership rate has stabilized; however, not all Americans have benefitted from the recovery. Even in housing markets that appear to be thriving, many still find themselves locked out of homeownership. You asked us to conduct a comprehensive assessment of today's housing market and whether it is meeting the needs of Americans. This report is one of several we plan to issue in response.1 It presents historical homeownership trends at the national level and trends from 2010 through 2018 for nine cities: Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; Columbia, South Carolina; Denver, Colorado; Houston, Texas; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; and Washington, D.C.2 We selected our nine cities based on an existing classification of cities, geographic diversity, and congressional interest.3 To describe homeownership trends, including changes in units and prices, the outward expansion and densification of cities, and homeowner and recent borrower characteristics, we analyzed data from the following sources from 2010 through 2018, the most current data available at the time of our review: the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) House Price Index, and Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data. To assess the reliability of these data sources, we primarily reviewed related documentation. In some cases, we also interviewed agency officials and tested data for missing values and obvious errors. We determined these data sources were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of reporting homeownership data and trends. To further inform our work, we also interviewed selected researchers and agency officials and conducted a literature review. 1We issued a report on rental housing in May 2020-see GAO, Rental Housing: As More Households Rent, the Poorest Face Affordability and Housing Quality Challenges, GAO-20-427 (Washington, D.C.: May 27, 2020). 2As described in more detail in enclosure 1, we included the following core-based statistical areas (cities) in our analysis: Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI; Cleveland-Elyria, OH; Columbia, SC; Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO; Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX; Pittsburgh, PA; San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA; Seattle-Tacoma- Bellevue, WA; and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV. 3This report examines trends in the housing market prior to the Covid-1 9 pandemic and does not account for the profound effect it likely will have on homeowners. We have ongoing work that will examine implementation of foreclosure and eviction protections authorized in recent legislation. GAO-20-544R Homeownership Trends Page 1

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