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Articles

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

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Pages 1197-1220
Received 17 Jul 2014
Accepted 10 Mar 2015
Published online: 02 Jul 2015
 

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.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Michael Orr of ASU’s Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice and Elizabeth Morales and other staff at the City of Phoenix Housing Department for helping us to access the real estate transaction and voucher holder data. Three anonymous reviewers provided valuable revision advice.

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