[lbo-talk] interesting factoid

[Tim Francis-Wright]

shag wrote:
> the footnote:
> "Preliminary NLIHC tabulations of Massachusetts data from the
> Warren Group find that only 42% of the bank repossessions in that
> state from January 1, 2007 to mid March 2008 were single family
> homes. Another 14% were condominiums. And fully, 42% were for
> buildings with two or more units. These type of results have been
> mirrored by other reports. For example, a recent report found that
> "38 percent of foreclosures now involve rental properties,"

It is important to note that the Massachusetts data, while showing
that 42% of the foreclosures were multifamily units, may be sui
generis. A lot of housing stock in Massachusetts, particularly in
urban areas, has 2 or 3 units and often has one owner-occupied unit.
(In 1999, there were almost 16,000 3-unit buildings and over 18,000
2-units buildings in Boston per se and lots more in the suburbs.)
"Triple-deckers" make up a good chunk of that: for a long time now,
buying a triple-decker and renting out two units was one of the few
ways to afford a mortgage in Boston for those of modest means. Alas, I
cannot find data that separates owner-occupied multifamily from
non-owner-occupied.

http://www.cityofboston.gov/dnd/pdfs/tripledecker18_webd.pdf

--tim francis-wright