Chicago is facing criticism from federal investigators for hindering affordable housing by allowing City Council members to reject such developments in their wards, by using their aldermanic prerogative. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suggests that the aldermanic prerogative gives City Council members too much power to veto affordable housing proposals.

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HUD's Lon Meltesen, regional director of HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity wrote, "the department’s investigation indicates that the city affords each of its 50 wards a local veto over proposals to build affordable housing and that many majority-white wards use the local veto to block, deter or downsize such proposals.” He further said that veto “disproportionately harms Black and Hispanic households who are far more likely than white households to need and qualify for affordable housing." The investigation was triggered in November 2018, when a complaint was filed to HUD by the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance and nine other advocacy groups, against the City Council members' use of the veto power.

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Photo by Matthew Hamilton on Unsplash

The law of supply and demand doesn't seem to be working in the context of the U.S. housing market. As prices hit record highs, available homes remain at record lows. We had visualized the demand and supply gap in our Housing Count project, so you can check out the status of this gap in your own counties.

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The recent surge in housing development, particularly in states like Florida and Idaho, marks a notable departure from the housing crisis of 2007. This time around, the boom is characterized by a shift towards apartment buildings and condo complexes. Notably, South Dakota, Colorado, Florida, and Arizona are emerging as leaders in the production of multifamily housing units, with only D.C. surpassing them. Contrastingly, some of the traditional multifamily housing strongholds, including states like Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New York, are lagging behind in housing production. This shift in dynamics suggests a changing landscape in the housing market, with a move away from high-rise-heavy megalopoli towards a more decentralized approach to housing development.

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• Red counties are permitting more housing development than blue counties
• Part of the reasoning for the above could be because these localities are able to build more cheaply and be more responsive to housing needs
• Another reason could be more restrictive zoning, NIMBYism and environmental regulation in blue counties, which can deter housing growth, as we saw in the failure of the NYC Housing Compact case

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Overall, the analysts didn't find any major correlations between a state’s politics and its housing production.

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(Image credits: Stock photos) 

The United States faces a severe housing shortage, and while some state and local leaders are trying to address it through new construction, the article argues that rehabilitating and reusing older and historic buildings should be a crucial part of the solution. Approximately 40% of America's building stock is at least 50 years old, and many such structures are in need of upgrades and repairs. Rehabbing these older buildings for housing is often more cost-effective and environmentally friendly than new construction. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is considering a policy that encourages such rehabilitation and adaptation, and it could guide federal, state, local, nonprofit, and individual actions. The aim is to increase affordable housing and align with the Biden administration's housing goals.

For decades, Montgomery County has led the country in affordable housing innovations, including a landmark law that requires developers to set aside about 15 percent of the units in new projects for households making less than two-thirds of the area’s median income, which is now $152,100 for a family of four. 

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The government agency in the area, the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County, has a stake in the new developments in the county. As a result, new projects are combining private and public subsidies and putting a modern spin on the concept of public housing. 

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The Laureate, a newly developed swanky residence that sits outside Washington, D.C., is the first building financed with a new $100 million fund that Montgomery County created to speed development by having H.O.C. invest directly in new projects, then using its ownership position to become a kind of benevolent investor that trades profits for lower rents.

Gov. Kotek’s first promise upon taking office is to build 36,000 new homes annually to overcome our housing backlog and bring down costs of housing statewide. While the homebuilding industry adamantly supports this goal, we know that everyone will need to do their part to bring down the high costs of housing and rent that are impacting families across this state.

As rents skyrocketed in the aftermath of the pandemic and have continued squeezing Nevadans in the last year, local officials on numerous occasions stressed state law restricted them from taking action to address the housing crisis. Now given a chance to weigh in on legislation that would clarify their authority, local governments have been mostly silent on the matter.

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Image credits - iStockPhoto

"Florida Senate Bill 102 is among the most impactful legislation to stimulate the new construction of affordable housing that’s taken effect in Florida. The bill increases funding availability and provides important incentives to make affordable housing more feasible. However, Senate Bill 102 alone is not a silver bullet. Without increased engagement from local governments and increased local and federal affordable housing subsidies, communities will continue to experience an affordable housing supply that is far below the increasing need." – Jake Morrow, Principal, Interurban.

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Integra Investments and Centennial Bank executives discuss this major legislation, as well as their efforts to ease Miami's housing crisis.

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Image: Program logo from the Florida Housing Finance Corp. website

Arizona is short more than 200,000 homes to match demand and lawmakers proposed to fix that by changing local zoning regulations to make building easier, a strategy that has drawn heated opposition from cities across the state.

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Image credits - Unsplash

With climate change making severe weather events more common and the area’s housing crisis increasing the number of people who need support, the operation of the shelters is taking an increasing toll on county and city officials and budgets, as well as the community volunteers whose labor the region relies on to run the shelters.

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Image credits - Mika Baumeister/Unsplash

Retail giant Amazon announced on Wednesday the launch of a new pilot program designed to assist moderate-income families in three different U.S. communities with the purchase of up to 800 homes, in partnership with the National Housing Trust (NHT).

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The initiative will include $40 million to assist residents in the Puget Sound, Washington, Arlington, Virginia, and Nashville, Tennessee communities, the company said. Amazon says the investment will “help moderate-income residents in these communities to purchase homes as a path to help build generational wealth.”

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The nonprofit NHT will use the funds from Amazon’s program to acquire and build affordable homes for sale in partnership with a network of local organizations - Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King & Kittitas Counties serving the Puget Sound region; the African Community Housing & Development (ACHD) and Homestead Community Land Trust both serving King County, Wash., the Douglass Community Land Trust in Washington, D.C. and The Housing Fund serving Nashville.

Developers are analyzing how to take advantage of Florida’s new legislation, which will set aside over $700 million in funding, create tax breaks, and provide zoning-related incentives for affordable and workforce housing developments. 

The law could contribute to a new boom in housing development, from entirely affordable buildings to mixed-income towers on commercial sites that developers are now looking to purchase, experts say. The Live Local Act, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed last week, aims to help fill financing gaps, making more developments economically feasible. What is still crucial, attorneys and developers said, is combining that with incentives on the local level. he new legislation sets aside $259 million in SAIL (State Apartment Incentive Loan) funds. It also promises $252 million in SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Program) funding to incentivize local governments to partner with developers preserving or building new housing. The law goes into effect July 1. Developers are expected to apply for incentives this summer, and receive funds next year. If developers don’t have to pay property taxes (beginning in 2024), they can count on a project generating more net operating income, which means they can borrow more debt. Ultimately, that means they could develop more units, experts said. The huge increase in construction costs — including the price of land, debt, labor and materials — and insurance have contributed to the lack of affordable housing.

The Live Local Act aims to remedy some of that. It will put $100 million in non-recurring funds into a competitive loan program that developers could tap to cover inflation-related cost increases for Florida Housing and Finance Corporation-approved multifamily developments that haven’t broken ground yet.

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Image: Brian Sidman, Keith Poliakoff, J.C. De Ona and Jake Morrow (Source: Getty)

With climate change making severe weather events more common and the area’s housing crisis increasing the number of people who need support, the operation of the shelters is taking an increasing toll on county and city officials and budgets, as well as the community volunteers whose labor the region relies on to run the shelters.

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Image credits - Mika Baumeister/Unsplash

The National Low Income Housing Coalition report shows Texas only has 29 available and affordable rental homes per 100 extremely low-income renters. The report ranks Houston, Dallas, and Austin in the top ten worst major metro cities for affordable housing.

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Source - iStockphotos

In recent years, Florida has become one of the least affordable places to live in the nation, making affordable housing one of the top issues impacting Floridians. While the state’s reputation as a place for leisurely coastal living has made it a popular retirement destination for seniors, Florida has also seen an influx of young, high-earning professionals from states like New York, where the median home price is nearly double that of Florida’s. While individuals from states like New York or California — two states with some of the highest average incomes in the country — may find Florida to be more affordable, everyday Floridians are paid lower wages on average and renters in Florida have historically been more cost-burdened than any other state in the nation. In the span of just two years, median rent prices increased by over 30 percent across the state, from about $1,340 in February 2020 to roughly $1,760 in February 2022. To afford a modest one-bedroom rental home at fair market rent, a person earning $10 per hour (the state’s minimum wage for most of 2022) would need to work 86 hours per week.

In a bold initiative to tackle New York's housing crisis, the city is adopting a novel approach: incentivizing homeowners to convert their garages and attics into additional living spaces by offering to pay them. NYCHPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrion Jr. announced on Nov 21, the launch of a new pilot program called “Plus One ADU”. The pilot program will make available $395,000 in funding through HPD and $2.6 million in grant funding from New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). Applications are now open for qualified homeowners to build “accessory dwelling units,” or ADUs, which have proven to be one of the most effective local solutions to tackle housing affordability and offer additional living space for multi-generational housing.  

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Currently, the program aims at offering 15 owners of single-family homes the funding needed to build detached units or retrofitting basements. Each owner will receive up to $400,000. The eligibility criteria is based on income, and a family of four will have a ceiling of $232,980, with lower-income households being prioritized. The rents in these ADUs will be capped at around $2,600 for a one-bedroom apartment.

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(Image credits: Adobe stock images)

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has announced updated appraisal requirements for the valuation of manufactured homes certified under Fannie Mae's MH AdvantageTM and Freddie Mac's CHOICEHome® programs. These updates, unveiled by Federal Housing Commissioner Julia Gordon at a conference in Chicago, align FHA appraisal requirements with industry standards, aiming to enhance the valuation of these homes for borrowers seeking FHA-insured mortgages. The changes support the Biden-Harris Administration's Housing Supply Action Plan and its goal of increasing the availability and affordability of manufactured housing. The updated policy allows appraisers to use appropriate site-built-home comparable sales when there are insufficient comparable sales for certified manufactured homes, removing a roadblock to the effectiveness of FHA programs in serving buyers of these energy-efficient and affordable homes.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law aimed at addressing the state's ongoing homeless crisis. The law allows religious institutions and nonprofit colleges to rezone their properties for low-income housing, bypassing local permitting and environmental review rules. This "YIGBY" (Yes in God's Backyard) initiative seeks to utilize surplus land and underutilized parking lots for housing. It is seen as a significant step in combating homelessness, as California is home to nearly a third of all homeless people in the U.S. The law will be in effect from 2024 until 2036 and is expected to unlock opportunities for housing development across the state. Additionally, Governor Newsom signed another housing bill extending the life of a law that streamlines rules for housing projects, further promoting housing construction in California. However, the legislation faced opposition from various cities and environmental groups. The state's ongoing efforts to address homelessness also include the construction of 1,200 tiny homes in four cities.

A coalition of trade associations, including CHLA, NAR, and ICBA, has called on the Biden administration to address the historically large spread between 30-year mortgage rates and 10-year Treasuries. The spread, currently over 300 basis points, far surpasses the historic norm of around 150 basis points. The trade groups have urged the Federal Reserve to change its policy, maintaining its stock of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and suspending runoff until the spread stabilizes. They also recommend amending preferred stock purchase agreements (PSPAs) to enable Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase their MBS temporarily. These actions could potentially reduce mortgage rates by 100 to 150 basis points, providing market certainty amid rising rates.

Although Texas builds more homes than any other state, it’s not building enough to keep up with its massive population and economic growth, leading to historically high housing costs, according to housing advocates, builders and real estate experts. By some estimates, the state is short hundreds of thousands of homes.A sweeping agenda to slow Texas’ substantial rise in housing costs by reining in local regulations that opponents say get in the way of building new homes has died quietly in the Texas Legislature.

As rents skyrocketed in the aftermath of the pandemic and have continued squeezing Nevadans in the last year, local officials on numerous occasions stressed state law restricted them from taking action to address the housing crisis. Now given a chance to weigh in on legislation that would clarify their authority, local governments have been mostly silent on the matter.

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Image credits - iStockPhoto

Many in New York hoped that the final version of the state’s $229 billion budget would include provisions to prevent cities and towns from limiting themselves exclusively to the construction of single-family homes. However, the Governor's Housing Compact plan was abandoned when it proved too controversial to keep budget negotiations with the Legislature moving along. Read about what this missed opportunity could cost the state.

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Photo by Tom Rumble on Unsplash

On January 10, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a statewide strategy to address New York’s housing crisis. This new plan, named The New York Housing Compact, aims to build 800,000 new homes over the next decade to meet the state’s historic housing shortage.‍

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Hochul’s Compact would have boosted housing production in New York City’s suburbs, by overriding local planning boards that limit most land to single-family detached homes. However, it didn't make it past the State Budget after heated negotiations at the State Legislature.

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What is next for New York's affordable housing future?

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Imade credits - Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul