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Despite current economic woes, families continue to aspire to own their own homes. For many, homeownership represents a path to stability, community, and long-term wealth building. But achieving these social and economic goals requires a new policy regime and regulatory framework that mitigates the inherent risks of the process. If done right — by matching buyers with appropriate mortgage products in a transparent and fair manner — we can make homeownership work for a broad range of American families, even those with low incomes and few resources.

In 1997 and 1998, banks, insurance companies, and brokerage firms spent over $300 million on lobbying and political contributions. While their “investment” in pushing so-called financial modernization legislation through Congress […]

For decades, the United States government, pushed by its business partners in the financial and real estate world, “marched the nation into a delusion.” The fantasy is that we can create wealth for millions of homeowners by enriching investors, brokerage and mortgage companies and Wall Street bankers “to the fullest extent possible with few boundaries.”

When consumers shop for new cars or other major products, they often like to consult with Consumer Reports or some other resource that rates companies selling the products. Imagine if […]

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Melvin Oliver, vice president for asset building and community development at the Ford Foundation, talks about community development, black and white wealth, and racial inequality.

Impact investing may seem like a market-based concept, but government can and does support, enable, and participate in it many ways.

When wealthy investors treat homes like poker chips, it is the tenants who end up losing. How do we interrupt the vicious cycle of speculation and displacement?

As home prices continue to fall, the notion that the real estate market will allow for lower-income families to secure affordable housing increases. But it’s not so cut and dried. How much a home costs is only one of many factors when determining affordability. In March 2012, Shelterforce hosted a roundtable discussion featuring leading research and policy experts to explore those various components of affordability looking at just how the housing crisis changed the affordable housing landscape in the United States.

Confused by the acronyms and initials dotting your reading material? All fields have them, and housing is no exception. Here’s what many of the most common mean.

When the Maryland Center for Community Development (MCCD) began to examine the financial services available to low-income people statewide in 1999, its goal was to learn more about why individuals […]

To build a powerful coalition of the poor and middle class, affordable housing advocates must reject a moderate neoliberal approach and choose a progressive populist approach.