Overview
The U.S. lacks an economically viable housing finance option to serve lower-income households in low-cost affordable housing markets. Urban Institute is creating a new micro-mortgage product that streamlines fees and costs, simplifies processing, and allows for affordable home purchase and renovation enabling sustainable homeownership for low-and middle-income households. Traditional lenders are not making small mortgage loans, leaving some of the most affordable properties out of reach for low-income households to buy. Families are devoting too much income to rent when they could own a home for a fraction of the cost. A micro-mortgage can alleviate the burden of unstable, expensive rental housing, and put wealth-building through homeownership in reach for families. Urban Institute is working to create a micro-mortgage marketplace for affordable home purchase and renovation, harnessing the existing affordable housing stock in Louisville and Southern Indiana to close the housing gap.
How We Helped
Urban Institute was one of six companies selected to receive grant funding through the 2019 Reconstruct Challenge. The 2019 Reconstruct Challenge was a prize competition focused on the affordable housing crisis in the United States by funding the implementation and beta tests of innovations working to decrease the ancillary costs of housing in the Louisville and Southern Indiana area with the goal to prove out innovative models and help them scale.
