Regaining the Dream

Millions of Americans have lost their homes since the start of the recession initiated by the financial crisis of 2008?09. But is the dream of homeownership for America's working families obsolete, an aspiration from a bygone era? Regaining the Dream rejects that notion and proposes a way to strengthen the financial system while simultaneouslypromoting an equitable and viable American homeownership policy.

For the first time, the authors of Regaining the Dream offer data-driven evidence on how the mortgage industry can serve working families in the United States, pointing the way to a pragmatic housing policy that promotes the opportunity for sustainable homeownership.

Taking the reader step by step through the lending crisis and what caused it, the authors include useful and clear definitions of terms heard almost daily in news coverage. And they give a fair account of the history behind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the new Dodd-Frank law, explaining what remains to be done to uphold one of the defining characteristics of the American dream.

Roberto G. Quercia is a professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning, director of the Center for Community Capital, and a fellow of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies, all at the University of North Carolina?Chapel Hill. At the Center for Community Capital, Allison Freeman is a senior research associate and Janneke Ratcliffe is associate director.