In the aftermath of the housing bust and recession of the late 2000s, an increasing number of housing units have entered the foreclosure process.   This trend calls for research into the antecedents and consequences of the trend for both households and housing units.  In this paper, we use data from the 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2011 American Housing Surveys (AHS) linked to data on foreclosures from RealtyTrac from 2005-2011 to examine predictors of foreclosure and the effects of foreclosure on households and housing units in the single family detached stock. 

RealtyTrac began reporting data on foreclosures in 2005, one year before the housing prices peaked in the United States.  RealtyTrac data consists of records of foreclosure events (Notice of Default, Notice of Auction and Notice of Bank Ownership) for properties in the U.S.  These records include the date and type of event.  Data from the AHS, a national longitudinal survey of housing units collected by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, include detailed statistics on the physical and financial characteristics of housing unit as well as demographic characteristics of households.  We include AHS data from 2003 in our analyses to capture household and housing characteristics in a year preceding the first year of data available from RealtyTrac.  AHS data and Realty Trac data are linked by property address. 

Regarding antecedents, we examine declines in income and increases in housing costs that result in increased housing burdens that put households at risk of foreclosure.  We examine the vacancy, tenure, and physical characteristics of units that went into foreclosure compared with those that did not.  The AHS provides mortgage characteristics and estimates home equity for owner-occupied homes.  A section of the paper discusses how these characteristics interact with foreclosure outcomes.

Since the AHS follows the housing unit, we cannot examine households that move after foreclosure.  We investigate the extent to which households remain in place during and after the foreclosure process and the nature of any transition to another household or vacancy.  For units that are vacant post foreclosure, we examine for-sale or for-rent status, upkeep, and eventual occupancy and analyze these characteristics separately for units in judicial and non-judicial states.