To help inform the ongoing policy debate concerning the risks associated with second mortgages, the paper rigorously evaluates the effect of second liens on the performance of first mortgages. Using a dataset that combines credit bureau information with mortgage performance data, the statistical...

Trends in residential house values can be expressed by changes in House Price Indexes (HPIs). HPIs are based on observed prices and help guide real estate activities. Since the recent housing crash, distressed sales have increased in numbers and have led to concerns about their effects on market...

Nondisclosure laws and other factors have hindered the production and release of median home price in many areas across the country. This paper attempts to fill the gaps and develops a simple approach to estimating median prices for a geographically complete set of areas. The methodology begins...

Under the repeat-transactions framework for constructing house price indexes, the paper analyzes the technical challenges associated with producing unbiased price indexes for homes in distinct price tiers. The basic problem is that the “tier” to which a given home truly belongs is...

The paper discusses the impact of distressed sales on recent estimates of house price changes in California. Using information from Notice of Default (NOD) filings in that state, the paper compares the usual FHFA HPI against an index computed after removing sales occurring after NOD filings. The...