Do Foreclosures Increase Crime After All?

A few months ago our Emily Badger reported on a study that found no direct correlation between home foreclosures and crime. The researchers drew that conclusion from a thorough analysis of housing markets and crime statistics in 142 metro areas across the United States. "Moving forward, researchers should begin to think about why the foreclosure crisis is not directly linked to rates of violent and property crime," they wrote.

Before other scholars move forward too quickly, they might consider another study — this one set to appear in the Journal of Urban Economics — that reaches the opposite conclusion. The new work, led by Ingrid Gould Ellen of New York University, found that recent foreclosures in New York City led to a 1 percent increase in crime on the same block. The largest effects occurred when properties went all the way through the foreclosure process, either to auction or bank ownership.