Dataset of the Day: A Spatial Look at Subprime Lending and the Credit Crisis

The recent strain on the economy in the United States can be felt throughout all facets of life for Americans. On June 3rd, chairman of the United States Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke spoke about the economic outlook of the United States in his speech (via satellite) at the International Monetary Conference (Barcelona, Spain). Bernanke lists three sources for the current financial turmoil:
* U.S. Housing Boom
* Credit Boom
* Growth in Developing and Emerging Market Economies
As a result of these factors, the overall growth of the economy has been slow, and activity for the current quarter is likely to be relatively weak. The construction market continues to weaken, and the inflation rate has remained high.

In order to curb these effects, the Federal Reserve is making steps to maximize sustainable employment and price stability. To achieve the desired results the Federal Reserve has eased monetary policy, and is carefully monitoring the developments in foreign markets. Second, the Federal Reserve has taken steps to ensure that financial institutions have adequate access to the central bank liquidity. Finally, by assuming the role of regulators, the Fed is trying to eliminate unfair and deceptive acts and practices in mortgage lending. After reading what the chairman had to say, I was interested in taking a look into the different points of interest with my geospatial hat on.

So I found a state level dataset that displays over 50 different attributes regarding the housing, credit markets that Bernanke had stressed. I spatially joined the data according to state, and uploaded it into our Finder! platform for public use. You can use the Subprime Loan Characteristics dataset to see specific states that have been hit hardest by the current housing and credit market.

This map was created using the file available on Finder!, and GIS software. It shows state percentages of homes in foreclosure. Florida, Wisconsin, and Ohio rank highest in percentage of homes in foreclosure, while Wyoming, Tennessee, and Alaska rate lowest. So, take a look at the data available from a different perspective, and enjoy!