01491pab a2200181 454500 180718b2001 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d Blaackman, Allen Location-efficient mortgages: is the rationale sound? 2001 p.633-49 Fall Location efficient mortgage (LEM) programs are an increasingly popular approach to combating urban sprawl. LEMs allow families who want to live in densely populated, transit-rich communities to obtain a larger mortgage with a smaller down payment than traditional underwriting guidelines allow. LEMs are premised on the proposition that homeowners in such "location-efficient" areas can safely be allowed to breach underwriting guidelines designed to prevent mortgage default because they have lower than average auatomobile-related transportation expenses and more income available for mortgage payments. This paper employs records of more than 8000 FHA-insured mortgages matched with data on various measures of location efficiency to test this proposition. The results suggest that it does not hold and that LEMs - like other low-down-payment mortgage programs - will raise mortgage default rates. This cost must be weighed against any potential anti-sprawl benefits LEMs may have. - Reproduced Urban development - United States Urban development Krupnick, Alan Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 50441 50441 50441 0 0 0 0 IIPA IIPA 2018-07-19 Volume no: 20, Issue no: 4 AR50869 2018-07-19 2018-07-19 AR