Residential Foreclosures in the City of Buffalo, 1990-2000 - Federal ...

Chart 6 plots the trends in FHA and conventional lending in Buffalo over the
1992-2000 period. Interestingly, both types of loans followed a pattern of growth and
decline early in the period, but later in the decade conventional lending grew substantially
while FHA lending leveled off. As we discuss later, a good portion of the increase in
conventional lending was likely attributable to subprime lending. Over the 1992-2000
period, 23 percent of loans made in Buffalo were FHA loans, while conventional loans
accounted for 77 percent. Nationwide, FHA loans represented about 14 percent of all
outstanding mortgages. 6 FHA loans have historically been more prevalent in central cities
due to the lack of conventional prime lending.
Chart 6
Mortgage Loans Sold in Buffalo: FHA and Conventional, 1992-2000
Number
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
1992
93
94
95
Sources: Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council; Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data.
96
Conventional
97
98
99
FHA
While mortgage lending grew over the 1992-2000 period, the volume of lending
varied throughout the city. Chart 7 shows the number of mortgage loans originated from
1992 to 2000 per the number of occupied housing units for the eight Buffalo study areas.
As one might expect, the areas demonstrating high sales activity in Table 7 also saw the
most lending.
6 U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 2001, “American Housing Survey.”
35
00
3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0