Volume 4 Number 9
October 2007

In this Issue
Green Renovation Creates Healthier, Energy-Efficient Apartments
City-County Partnership Promotes Lead Hazard Control
More about Panelized Construction
NeighborWorks® America Delivers
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In the Next Issue of ^ResearchWorks...

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• The current issue of Cityscape, HUD’s journal of policy development and research, discusses key questions about barriers and homeownership gaps faced by minorities and low-income families. We’ll scan the latest findings on gaps in homeownership rates by socioeconomic status, the impact of downpayment assistance programs, relationships between demographic/socioeconomic factors and the Hispanic homeownership gap, interest rates and borrower characteristics, and household income/wealth and homeownership.

• Plumbing is heading in new directions, made possible by a material called cross-linked polyethylene, or PEX. This new technology has a wide variety of applications in home construction and holds promise as a component in affordable housing. We’ll visit a field test conducted in Lincoln, Nebraska that demonstrates the appeal of PEX residential plumbing systems to designers, builders, plumbers, and homeowners.

• In July 2007, HUD introduced its new Green Initiative. This nationwide pilot encourages owners and purchasers of affordable multifamily properties to rehabilitate and operate their properties using green building principles, including sustainability, energy-efficiency, recycling, and indoor air quality. Our discussion will provide an overview of the Green Initiative, especially as it relates to HUD’s Mark-to-Market (M2M) program. We’ll also examine the benefits to owners, residents, and taxpayers.

• Goal Performance and Characteristics of Mortgages Purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, 2001–2005, recently released by HUD as part of the Housing Finance Working Paper Series, explores Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s recent performance in the secondary mortgage market. We’ll look at how well the GSEs met the goals established by the HUD Secretary for their mortgage purchases and examine the basic characteristics of the mortgage loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.