Improving Long-Term Financial Soundness by Identifying Causes of Home Abandonment in Mexico

Fellows: Klaus Ackermann, Eduardo Blancas Reyes, Sue He, Thomas Keller
Data Science Mentor(s): Romana Khan
Project Manager: Paul van der Boor
Project Partner: Infonavit

Infonavit (Instituto del Fondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los Trabajadores) is the largest provider of mortgages in Mexico, assisting lower-income families that cannot obtain financing from a private institution with acquisition and other housing solutions. Infonavit’s main objective is to increase the quality of life and equity value of Mexican workers and their families through two mandates: providing housing finance and managing workers’ savings.

To advance this mission, the organization wants to understand the relationship between policy, social influences, and dwelling abandonment. Previous research found that workers abandon their home for several reasons, including distance to jobs and schools, lack of services, finances, and security. Causes of home abandonment also vary by region, and according to whether the owner bought the property for investment or to fulfill a housing need.

Our project built upon these preliminary results by exploring data from Infonavit, census and home surveys, loans, and social research to discover the factors that most elevate the risk of housing abandonment. DSSG incorporated these findings into tools and evidence-based recommendations, helping Infonavit offer services and support local policy to mitigate abandonment and improve economic outcomes for the citizens of Mexico. The results may also support better housing value and credit origination for workers, as well as improve portfolio risk management and collection performance for Infonavit so that they can best accomplish their social mission.

You can read more about this project in detail here.