There is a seeming paradox about the "affordable housing goals": GSE activities in targeted communities have increased under the goals but there has been little measurable improvement in housing market conditions in these communities. This paper seeks to reconcile this paradox by focusing on...

While prior analyses have provided substantial evidence of elevated default probabilities among mortgages originated to lower income, less credit worthy and minority borrowers, those risks may be offset by the reduced prepayment probabilities of those loans. To the investor in FHA-insured...

This paper estimates an option-based hazard model of the competing risks of FHA mortgage termination. Results indicate that the elevated default risks of loans originated among lower credit quality and minority borrowers are more than offset by the damped prepayment speeds of those loans, so as...