Our Lot

Through reporting and analysis, Alyssa Katz’s new book tells the tale of how the spread of homeownership ultimately played a role in debilitating the national economy. Her account of the recent housing bubble and its sudden deflation should be required reading for those who want to know what happened and how to avoid it from happening again. From Washington to Wall Street and the heart of the subprime industry in Orange County, and from the streets and living rooms of neighborhoods across the country forever transformed by the bubble’s excesses, Our Lot reveals what went so disastrously wrong with a crusade that was supposed to create a more perfect nation.

At this event, Katz discussed her book, the history of government policy towards renting and homeownership and how the combination of regulation and the development of new mortgage products contributed to the housing bubble and collapse.

Ellen Seidman provided a commentary on the book, (“Good, but depressing.”) and raised a number of issues for further discussion, including:

1) The role of renting, and government support of renting.

2) The role of land-use policies, including the relationship between sprawl and affordability.

3) The need for improved securitization in the mortgage markets.

4) The need to better regulate the system of housing finance.

These comments sparked an interesting and well-informed discussion with the audience, that addressed such issues as how to promote a responsible home refinancing market; how to limit mortgage fraud and appraisal fraud, how to provide stronger support for renting and non-traditional but promising homeownership arrangements, such as shared equity housing.

Participants

featured speaker
Alyssa Katz
Author, Our Lot: How Real Estate Came to Own Us

discussants
Ellen Seidman
Senior Research Fellow
New America Foundation

Reid Cramer
Director, Asset Building Program
New America Foundation