By Daryl Fairweather | Redfin
I’m Daryl Fairweather, and I’m thrilled to join Redfin as chief economist and contribute to Redfin’s mission of making home buying and selling easier. I will be leading the housing market research team to produce and publish analyses that help consumers better understand the housing market.
In 2009, as a researcher for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, I interviewed more than 100 homeowners who were facing foreclosure. I asked them an array of questions to uncover the causes of the housing bubble and subsequent crash. I asked them about their financial situation leading up to the housing crash, and whether they experienced a job loss or unforeseen medical expense. I asked homeowners about the terms of their mortgage. I quizzed them on their financial literacy and asked them hypothetical questions, like “would you rather have $100 today or $110 dollars a year from now?” Every homeowner I spoke with wanted to pay their mortgage, wanted to keep their home, and desperately wanted help. In fact, most were still sending in payments even when they were already in default. These homeowners wanted to do the morally right thing. One woman I interviewed pleaded that I speak with her bank about renegotiating the terms of her mortgage, so she could avoid foreclosure, but all I could do was refer her to a hotline.
