SAVI Reports | Page 23

Figure 11. Comparison of Affordability With and Without Transportation Considered Source: H + T Index, Center for Neighborhood Technology (2016) Financing It should be noted that the discussion of affordable homeownership has been examined mostly through the lens of income rather than access to financing. lenders). One impact of the 2007-09 recession on prospective homebuyers has been the tightening access to credit and mortgage financing. For some prospective homeowners, the barrier to entering the housing market is not necessarily the cost of housing and/or the supply of affordable units, but rather access to financing (or at least access to credible and responsible This change is attributable to stricter regulations of the mortgage and lending industry and tightened lending and underwriting standards for families with less than excellent credit. For several years, the average credit score of a denied loan was similar to the average credit score of a 19