Mobility and Exit from Homeownership: Implications for Community Reinvestment Lending

This study focuses on the transition out of homeownership among community reinvestment loan borrowers, documenting patterns among low-income and minority households. We show that the higher rates of homeownership exit documented among low-income and minority borrowers in the larger population do not hold for community reinvestment mortgage borrowers. We model the transition, separating the determinants of mobility and tenure choice. Our results show that low-income and minority homeowners are less likely than their high-income and white counterparts to move, but no less likely to purchase a new home when they do. These findings are contrasted with the results of a model that specifies the transitions out of homeownership as the purchase of a new home and the return to renting.