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51 ยป VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM SCRUTINIZING THE PAST FOR A WAY FORWARD Looking back, what were some of the lessons learned that will help policymakers moving forward? A new report from e Urban Institute talks about one program's success and shares some of what they learned. NeighborWorks America, the Congressionally chartered nonprofit organization that implemented the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program, identified four main takeaways that can be used as guidelines in the future national crisis. e foreclosure crisis was evident towards the end of 2007 when the number of U.S. homeowners at risk of losing their homes had doubled in one year and those numbers were climbing. In response, Congress launched the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program in December, which helped 2.14 million homeowners by walking them through the foreclosure process. NFMC's paid counselors helped homeowners in vulnerable communities explore solutions like renegotiating with their lender or exiting a home they could not afford. First, collaboration is key, stated the report. It may seem obvious, but the faster a consensus is reached on what the crisis is, how to respond and reach shared goals the quicker existing programs can mobilize and get to work. NeighborWorks gathered experts from the field, government agencies, and practitioners on the ground for approving counseling agencies and designing data tracking systems. is enabled them to award $130 million in 60 days, more than 2.5 times their mandated target. In a crisis, funds reaching people in need quickly is a major asset. Next, the importance of transparency, collaboration, and flexibility. Document everything, and make key decisions public, especially when using government funds. Be attentive to problems that emerge, listen to feedback, and tweak. In addition, monitor and evaluate regularly, have systems in place to report data, evaluate results and show value. And last, set high-performance standards and help grantees meet them. e Urban Institute highlighted the strong reporting structure and culture of the NFMC program that enabled NeighborWorks standardized foreclosure counseling practices and paid for thousands of counselors to attend training. Taking these valuable lessons from the past, the industry is now better prepared to respond to a housing crisis in the future. MILLENNIALS LOOK BEYOND STARTER HOMES Affordability, low down payment, and less traditional secondary markets with an abundance of jobs and homes are just some of the things that millennials look at while purchasing a home, according to an analysis by Realtor.com. e analysis also found that millennials are taking on larger mortgages when compared with the older generations. Millennials have also started looking beyond starter homes. Despite a lower median purchase price of $238,000 for a starter home compared to Gen-Xers and baby boomers, the analysis indicated that millennials were increasing their purchase price at a faster rate than previous generations, indicating more buying power. ey're also becoming the largest mortgage purchasers by the number of loans originated, "surpassing Generation X as their leader in January 2017. As 2018 came to a close, millennials took on nearly half of all new mortgages compared with 36 percent for Gen X and 17 percent for baby boomers." Despite these growing numbers, the study indicated that millennial homebuying was driven by affordability as this demographic tended to make lower down payments compared to other generations. e analysis indicated that down payments by millennials averaged 8.8 percent in December 2018, compared to 11.9 percent for Generation X and 17.7 percent for "the more equity-rich" baby boomers. "Millennials are getting older, with better jobs and deeper pockets, allowing them to expand their collective purchase power, and hence, their footprint in the market," said Javier Vivas, Director of Economic Research at realtor.com. "e stereotype that millennials primarily choose to buy homes and live in large metro areas isn't the reality. Results show millennials' expansion is more heavily conditioned by affordability than in prior years, so their eyes are set on less traditional secondary markets where homes and jobs are now available and plentiful." While Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and Columbus ranked among the top housing markets preferred by millennials, Gen-Xers purchased homes in strong job markets and secondary home markets. Los Angeles, Providence, Bridgeport, Jacksonville, and Atlanta ranked among the top five markets for Gen-Xers. For baby boomers, the top five markets were Knoxville, Sacramento, Memphis, Oklahoma City, and Riverside.