Where Do Participants Move and How Do Their New Neighborhoods Compare to Where They Rented? Evidence from a North Carolina First-Time Homeownership Program

Abstract

In North Carolina, the Forsyth County Homeownership Program (FCHP) seeks to promote improved socioeconomic outcomes and wealth accumulation through home ownership by subsidizing down payments and offering a targeted financial literacy program. An important aspect of the FCHP is that it allows participants to decide what house to buy and where they ultimately live. We offer a first-ever analysis of the neighborhood differences between where participating families rented and where they moved. Analyzing a sample of 452 participants, we find evidence that the average family moved to neighborhoods with improved socioeconomic characteristics, compared to the neighborhoods where they rented. However, their new neighborhoods had worse socioeconomic measurements when compared to the overall county. We offer a discussion of these results and their policy implications.