A Place Called Home argues that homeownership is not only important for financial reasons, but also functions as a social tool that can improve the lives of low- and moderate-income people.

Researchers examine an innovative new program’s ability to help people experiencing homelessness attain and retain permanent housing through asset building and access to financial services.

Low-income underwater homeowners generally do not appear to be prevented from moving to take advantage of employment opportunities when necessary.

This research examines how homeowners and renters were impacted by the financial crisis in 2009. We build from the hypothesis that homeownership provides people a sense of stability which decreases the extent to which they feel stressed as a result … Read more

Center researchers find that adverse life events, such as unemployment, unexpected expenses and medical bills, are the primary reasons that lower-income households decide to file for bankruptcy. UNC Center for Community Capital researchers examine whether adverse life events influence the … Read more

Abstract There is a general consensus among researchers and policymakers that matched savings programs can significantly increase the propensity to save among low-income households. This study offers a unique contribution to the field by testing whether principals and theories from … Read more

This working paper examines whether there is a relationship between homeownership and health in lower-income communities. While past research has suggested that low-income homeowners may have better health outcomes than similar renters, the significant changes in the housing market since … Read more

A three-year study of a New York City asset-building program, $aveNYC, uses tax refunds and a savings match to encourage low-income taxpayers to start saving and keep it up.

Renters in low-wealth urban neighborhoods who became homeowners become more involved in neighborhood organizations prior to homeownership than renters who do not become homeowners and significantly after they buy homes, findings that hold important implications for policies that seek to promote homeownership.

This report draws on the expertise of leading researchers in financial services to identify common measures and methods for evaluating innovations in financial services and products that will enable cross-program comparisons of outcomes and mediating factors.