Property Values Perched on the Underserved

According to a study from the ""University of Virginia"":, property values could rise if banks provided lending services to the under-served, particularly minorities.

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The survey focused for the most part on Latino households in Virginia and North Carolina, documenting an array of variables affected by the presence of the ""Latino Community Credit Union"":http://www.latinoccu.org/en (LCCU), according to ""_National Mortgage News_"":http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/dailybriefing/2010_380/serve-the-under-banked-1025501-1.html?ET=nationalmortgage:e1464:76439a:&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NMN_Daily_Briefing_070111.

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Beginning at the turn of the century, the credit union's register of members leaped to 917 depositors to 53,073 two years ago.

Study authors Gregory Fairchild and Kulwant Rai found that ""between 2000 and 2008 in North Carolina, the opening of credit union branches with explicit strategies to serve Latinos contributed $9.8 billion in property appreciation, representing nearly a 3.8 percent increase in property value for the counties in which these branches were located.""

""_National Mortgage News_"":http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/dailybriefing/2010_380/serve-the-under-banked-1025501-1.html?ET=nationalmortgage:e1464:76439a:&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NMN_Daily_Briefing_070111 reported a corresponding link between thefts and branch openings, with a decline in robberies by about 57 each year following the establishment of a ""LCCU"":http://www.latinoccu.org/en branch. That decline fueled surges in property values in four counties.

Adding weight to the findings, recent reports indicate a rise in the number of cash buyers and investors in the housing market. These buyers and investors front cash for undervalued and distressed properties, which continue to leach capital from banks that can neither finance their remodeling needs or sales.