Fannie-Freddie Bill Includes Billions for Affordable Housing

January 30, 2018                         By: Bloomberg

The new proposal includes an explicit guarantee of mortgage-backed securities provided by the U.S. government through mortgage agency Ginnie Mae. 

(Bloomberg)—A Senate bill to overhaul the U.S. mortgage-finance system would devote billions of dollars to boosting home ownership among lower-income borrowers, according to a recent draft obtained by Bloomberg News. For some left-leaning lawmakers, that won’t be enough.

The draft, the result of discussions between Tennessee Republican Bob Corker and Virginia Democrat Mark Warner, gives the clearest view yet into how the senators aim to woo progressive politicians to back their plan for addressing mortgage-giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Support from those Democrats is likely needed to meet the 60-vote threshold for passing major bills in the Senate.

Corker and Warner would levy a “market access fee” on new loans. That money would be used to help build affordable-rental housing and make buying homes cheaper for low- and moderate-income borrowers, according to the draft.

That approach is being met with skepticism by some affordable-housing groups. They say other parts of the proposal could lead to lower-income borrowers getting less aid than they do in the current system. If the authors move to appease those critics, they could lose Republicans who want the government’s involvement in the mortgage market to be reduced if not eliminated..........Read More

New survey of mayors shows most are concerned about lack of affordable housing

January 22, 2018                       By: Katie Zezima

Many of the nation’s mayors are concerned about the price of housing and the ability of residents to afford living in their cities, according to a survey of more than 100 mayors from across the country.

More than half of the mayors who responded to the annual Menino Survey of Mayors said that high housing costs are the main reason that people are moving out of their cities, the leading cause above concerns about jobs, schools and public safety. Just 13 percent of mayors said they believe their city’s housing stock meets the needs of local residents. Even in the least-expensive housing markets, fewer than one in five of those mayors said the housing stock is well-suited to residents.

The Chicago skyline, in October. Mayors of numerous cities across the country said affordable housing is a major issue, one that is causing people to leave. (REUTERS/John Gress)

The annual survey, conducted by the Boston University Initiative on Cities, garnered responses from mayors of 115 cities nationwide, representing about 25 percent of the nation’s cities with more than 75,000 people. Experts said the housing crunch is affecting cities of all types.....................Read More

Rental trend squeezing affordable housing market

January 21, 2018                           By: Jon O'Connell

Fewer people own their homes, and that’s squeezing the rental market as more families sign leases instead of mortgages.

As the number of available apartments lags behind growing demand, rents are on the rise.

The median cost to rent an apartment in Pennsylvania swelled 5 percent, from $822 to $859 between 2011 and 2016, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data.

The phenomenon appears to have a disproportionate effect on people spending more of their income on rent, data shows.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says a family is housing cost-burdened when they spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent.

Half of renting Pennsylvanians fit that description, data shows........Read More

Capital budget passed, but too late for affordable housing deadline

January 19, 2018                          By: Josh Kelety - Washington Newspaper Publishers Association

The state Legislature passed a capital budget on Thursday, a day late for affordable housing projects across the state to receive crucial funding.

Affordable housing developers had until 5 p.m. on Jan. 17 to apply for federal low income housing tax credits from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission.

But in order for projects to qualify for the tax credits, developers must show that they have enough funding lined up. And without a capital budget funding the crucial Housing Trust Fund before the Jan. 17 deadline, projects aimed at the lowest income demographics — such as homeless families and disabled veterans — won’t meet the commission’s criteria, according to Housing Finance Commission staff.

“Projects that are dependent on money from the Housing Trust Fund in the capital budget don’t qualify for the 2018 round” of federal tax credits, said Kim Herman, Executive Director of the Housing Finance Commission....................Read More

Why 230,000 affordable housing units may never get built

January 19, 2018                                  By:  The Real Deal

Under new GOP tax law, low-income housing tax credits have less value

A rendering of the Peninsula (credit: WXY Architecture + Urban Design)

Even with private activity bonds intact, the new Republican tax law could cut the growth of subsidized affordable housing by more than 230,000 homes in the next 10 years.

The tax plan reduces the tax rate for corporations from 35 to 21 percent, which in turn, lowers the value of low-income housing tax credits, the New York Times reported. The reduction would shave roughly 235,000 homes from new supply of affordable housing across the U.S. over the next decade, according to a report by a national accounting firm, Novogradac & Company......Read More

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Vision for Affordable Housing Remains Unfulfilled

January 15, 2018                            By: Karen Haycox

A little over 50 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr., on the heels of the historic 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, stood before an audience of thousands of Chicagoans to deliver a fiery speech about segregated housing policies. In the hundred years since the abolition of slavery, millions of African-Americans migrated from the rural South, flocking to urban areas throughout the North, Midwest and West. While some found prosperity and promise, many were held back by slums and other poor housing conditions that were a barrier to opportunity.

Black American civil rights leader Martin Luther King (1929-1968) addresses crowds during the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., where he gave his "I have a Dream' speech" Central Press/Getty Images.

Tying back to his vision of a “Beloved Community”—a society based on the marriage of justice, equal opportunity, and love of one’s fellow human beings—Dr. King’s Chicago Freedom Movement was the first significant attempt to tackle the issues faced by African-Americans in urban areas throughout the Northern United States. While local grassroots activists were leading powerful movements to ensure voting rights, improve relations between police and communities of color, and make schools better, Dr. King brought with him both national attention and a unique critical lens toward the holistic impact of housing conditions...........Read More

US tax cuts will reduce incentive to build affordable housing-campaigners

December 24, 2017                     By; Gregory Scruggs, Reuters

SEATTLE - The new US tax bill could have a negative impact on the production of affordable housing at a critical time of rising demand across the country, according to low-income housing advocates.

The US Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and President Donald Trump signed the bill on Dec. 22, keeping a promise to deliver a tax cut by Christmas. But the 503-page bill, which critics say was rushed through Congress for speedy passage, could leave some collateral damage in its wake when it comes to affordable housing programs, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

US President Donald Trump displays his signature after signing the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul plan in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday.  Photo: Jonathan Ernst, Reuters

"This bill will exacerbate our country's already yawning income inequality and will harm efforts to end homelessness and housing poverty," coalition President and CEO Diane Yentel said. Housing advocates' main concern is how the reduction in the corporate tax rate impacts the market for Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the fiscal mechanism responsible for the largest share of privately-built affordable housing in the United States...............Read More

Why Affordable Housing Could Become Harder to Find

January 11, 2018                  By:  Pam Fessler

Poor families in the United States are having an increasingly difficult time finding an affordable place to live. Tenant advocates now worry that the new tax bill, as well as potential cuts in housing aid, will make the problem worse.

An estimated 11 million families in the U.S. now pay more than half their income on rent, a number that has grown steadily as the supply of affordable housing shrinks. One issue is that rents are going up, even as incomes for many low-income families are staying level or falling behind.

The result, say tenant advocates, is that some people are forced to choose between paying for rent or other necessities, such as food and medicine.

But landlords says tenants’ failure to pay their rent only adds to the affordable housing shortage. Without rental income, it’s hard for landlords to pay their mortgages or other bills, says Heiner Giese, a Milwaukee landlord and an attorney for the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin..............Read More

Goodbye Generational Divide? Developers Are Building Senior Housing Projects Next To Universities

January 3, 2017                                       By: Joseph Pimentel

More than 45 years after graduating from college, Ida O’Donoghue is back at school.

Once a week when Cal Lutheran University is in session, the 69-year-old former high school English as a Second Language teacher heads to the college’s Communication Café, where she helps foreign undergraduate students practice their English language skills.

The program is part of a unique partnership between Cal Lutheran and University Village, a senior residential living community across the street from the campus.

“It’s a marriage made in heaven,” said O’Donoghue, who has lived at University Village for the past 10 years. “It allows residents to share valuable skills with young people looking for guidance. It’s a win-win situation.”

University Village in Thousand Oaks, which is about an hour north of downtown Los Angeles, is one of more than 50 senior housing developments nationwide that is built within proximity of a college campus and partners with a university...........................Read More

Natural Disasters, Homelessness, and the Affordability Crisis Defined U.S. Housing in 2017

December 31, 2017                               By: Grace Guarnieri

By the end of 2017, the value of homes in the United States reached $31.8 trillion, but as homeowners saw their home values climb to the highest they've ever been this year, affordability suffered and homelessness worsened in American cities. Housing became an even bigger concern in 2017 when American cities were hit by hurricanes and fires.

Ben Carson was confirmed as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in March, 2017. Shortly thereafter, Carson began a listening tour of HUD programs around the United States. While on the tour, Secretary Carson stressed to local government officials that too much federal assistance from HUD led to too much dependence on the agency.

As Secretary Carson advocated for more local solutions to homelessness, natural disasters, housing affordability, and increased levels of homelessness rocked the nation on a national scale..........................Read More