Caitlin Jones Author Archives

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on 11/10/08 in the Federal Register published new operating cost adjustment factors for Fiscal Year 2009.

New IRS Notice 2008-106 clarifies that the minimum 9% credit percentage for the low-income housing tax credit, available for non-federally subsidized buildings placed in service after 7/30/08 and before 12/31/13, is available even if a building owner made an election on or before 7/30/08 to lock in the credit percentage.

A new report provides comprehensive data on different aspects of the federal new markets tax credit (NMTC) program through its first five funding rounds. Issued by the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, the report contains information and data collected during 2002-2007 about applications for NMTC allocations, recipients of allocations, investors, and funded projects.

Multifamily rental housing starts in the U.S. are likely to fall throughout 2009 but then start to rebound as job losses slow and renter demand picks up, according to industry experts speaking at a recent conference in Washington, DC.

A national trade group has created a council dedicated to promoting greater energy efficiency in existing federally assisted affordable housing developments. The new Council for Energy Friendly Affordable Housing (CEFAH) is a new council within the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association.

A New England developer is using a systematic, data-driven approach to make cost-effective green retrofits to its existing affordable rental housing properties. Part of this involves a strategic analysis of the existing capital needs assessment budget and reserve replacement schedule of each property, to prioritize the order in which properties are upgraded, to determine the optimum energy-efficiency improvements for each property, and to find ways to help pay for improvements.

A new report outlines steps that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and a second agency plan to take to better promote, encourage, and facilitate development of transportation-oriented mixed-income housing.

A new residential/commercial project in Portland, OR, a pioneer in several respects, illustrates the opportunities and challenges of doing mixed-use development. The new construction project was built to green/sustainability standards, featured a public-private partnership, and introduced new development and lifestyle concepts to the Portland market.

The low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) and other federal resources offer potential ways to turn distressed real estate assets into viable affordable rental housing projects, according to speakers at a recent conference. These potential new deals even include troubled LIHTC properties now in their 10-year tax credit period. In addition to the LIHTC, other federal resources mentioned included the “Mark-to-Market” program and fledgling Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

A metropolitan area that focuses on quality of life, Portland, OR, is atypical of the rest of the country. While recession is gradually creeping into the local economy, the impact is far more manageable than other comparable urban areas in the U.S.

Two organizations are pressing Congress to approve additional legislative changes to the low-income housing tax credit program (LIHTC) as part of any new economic stimulus package, in order to assist a tax credit market now struggling from a shortage of equity from investors. Congress is expected to put together an economic stimulus measure in early 2009 at the latest.

Responses to a recent survey of state housing credit agencies by the Tax Credit Advisor finds that in general states haven’t had many low-income housing tax credit awards returned so far. In addition, states to date have only committed a small fraction of their available 2009 housing credit authority.