Grace Oakey

Date of Award

Spring 2023

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (BS)

Advisor(s)

James H. McCann

Abstract

The report embarks on a deeper analysis of American regional variation in economic dimensions’ connection with the use and amount of mortgage debt by inhabitants of those regions, specifically with regards to the middle- and low-income household mortgage debt purchased by the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB). Part of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the FHLB system supports mortgage lending and other community investment through its eleven district banks; the mortgage investment it facilitates includes advances made to more than 6,500 member financial institutions as well as 63,890 mortgages purchased collectively in 2021. From the review of prior research, adjacencies and foundations to this topic in academic study have highlighted that there are not only distinct cultural and economic dimensions in various regions of the United States, but also that these are dimensions that remain engrained even as communities within these regions evolve economically, grow into larger cities, etc. Furthermore, prior research has found statistically significant correlations between national-level cultural differences and amounts and types of mortgage use within countries. Thus, I plan to take these connections—which in the research I have reviewed have been related to more ethics- or policy-oriented applications—and instead branch into the presence of any relationships that exist between demographic and economically-focused factors and the extent to which different regions within the United States pursue, grow, and maintain homeownership wealth, specifically when through use of mortgage debt as supported through indirect assistance from the federally sponsored Home Loan Bank system.

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