Newsroom
NCSHA Washington Report | February 7, 2020
When we left our spin through state HFA history at the end of the 1960s, the innovation of a few states seemed poised to sweep the country. In fact, 18 more states created HFAs between 1968...
Progressive House Members Release Affordable Housing Platform
Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) has been joined by other progressive House members — Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) — in releasing a framework for addressing the affordable housing crisis, which the authors call the People’s Housing platform. The platform contends that housing is a human right and federal affordable housing policy has been insufficient to address housing needs. It prescribes numerous steps the federal government should take to invest in affordable housing.
U.S. Faces Growing Rental Affordability Challenges According to New Harvard Report
On January 31, Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released its 2020 edition of “America’s Rental Housing” report. The new report shows that, despite slowing demand and continued strength of new construction, rental markets in the United States remain extremely tight. According to JCHS, vacancy rates are the lowest in decades, the number and share of cost-burdened renters are again on the rise, and the number of people experiencing homelessness is also increasing. These conditions mark significant market changes since the Great Recession, including an influx of higher-income households, constraints on new supply, and substantial losses of low-cost rental units.
NCSHA Recommends Regulatory Reforms of Housing Programs to Trump Administration
On January 31, NCSHA submitted comments to the White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing recommending specific steps the Departments of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, and Treasury can take to streamline and improve federal housing programs. These actions would lead to more affordable housing production with reductions in cost and administrative burden.
DCHFA Finances Scattered Site Development in Wards 5 and 8
DCHFA is financing the rehabilitation of two properties, Hanover Courts and Tivoli Gardens, with the issuance of $16.9 million in tax exempt bonds. The properties in Wards 8 and 5, respectively, will become one scattered site development, HanTiv. The Agency underwrote $10.8 million in low income housing tax credit (LIHTC) equity for the developments.
New Report Shows America’s Rental Affordability Crisis Climbing The Income Ladder
CAMBRIDGE, MA – Rental market conditions in the United States have changed fundamentally since the Great Recession, according to America’s Rental Housing 2020, a new report out today from the...
NCSHA Washington Report | January 31, 2020
When President Trump established the White House Council on Eliminating Barriers to Affordable Housing Development by executive order last summer, we recalled that the dozen...
PHFA’s Executive Director Announces His Retirement
Brian A. Hudson Sr. today announced his retirement after 45 years of working at the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. For the past 16 years, he has served as PHFA’s executive director and CEO, expanding the agency’s programs to better serve the housing needs of Pennsylvanians. Hudson is well known statewide and nationally as a leader in the housing field. His last day at the agency will be Feb. 7, 2020.
Responding to Homebuyer Habits Online Are Priorities for Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
Buying a home in Alaska will be less complicated with modernized names for Alaska Housing Finance Corporation loans and free online resources that provide how-to information about budgeting for a future mortgage and home features that save money. While the purchase transaction of the past almost entirely relied on the relationship of the buyer with their lender, Alaska’s borrowers are better informed online shoppers today and thus, more empowered to ask questions of their lender about which loan is best for their circumstances.
Louisiana Receives $18 Million to Provide Support to People Experiencing Homelessness
This month the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded nearly $18 million to the Louisiana Balance of State Continuum of Care (the CoC) to fund essential housing and supportive services to people experiencing homelessness. This amount includes more than $1.5 million in new funding, which will increase the CoC’s annual permanent housing capacity by nearly 150 households.
Albert Tripp Named to Housing Finance Commission
Governor Jay Inslee has named Albert Tripp, city manager of Airway Heights, to the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. Tripp will start his four-year term on the Commission immediately. “Mr. Tripp’s leadership experience, especially given the housing and growth challenges he has faced in his city, will be an enormous asset to the Commission,” said Karen Miller, chair of the Housing Finance Commission.
WHEDA Issues $140 Million Housing Revenue Bond
The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) has issued a $140 million Housing Revenue Bond to finance rental housing developments currently in its loan closing pipeline. The bond issuance is expected to help finance 12 developments that will provide 931 units of affordable and workforce rental housing throughout Wisconsin.
