News

By Donna Kimura, Affordable Housing Finance

More lawmakers have signed on to support the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, bringing the total to 100 members of the House of Representatives and 24 senators.

By Monica Hogan

Although still undecided at press time, partisan control of Congress will be by slim numbers, with implications for the housing-finance industry both in the lame-duck session that starts next week and in the new Congress, which convenes in January.

By Amanda Jacobson Snyder

Housing experts say persistent supply issues may continue to drive prices beyond the reach of many. Americans across generations have an enduring desire to own their own home, but high prices driven by a persistent lack of supply have a large share of would-be homeowners doubtful of their ability to make the dream of homeownership come true.

By Monica Hogan, Inside Mortgage Finance

Legislative action could heat up following the midterm elections, including for issues related to housing, said two government relations consultants speaking this week at the annual National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders policy conference in Washington, DC. “If you’re talking to policymakers, it’s crunch time to get things passed,” said Bryan Blom, vice president at Porterfield, Fettig & Sears.

By Rebecca Picciotto

Affordable-housing developers nationwide are stalling work on new projects, delaying thousands of units from coming to market when the U.S. already has a broad deficit of low-income housing.

By Vincent Salandro, Builder Magazine

President Joe Biden in late August announced a plan to forgive student loan debt for Americans. At the time the plan was announced, federal student loans totaled $1.6 trillion across more than 45 million borrowers.

By Monica Hogan, Inside Mortgage Finance

New student loan debt forgiveness is expected to have a marginal impact on first-time homeownership in the short term, according to mortgage industry watchers.

By Brendan Pedersen, American Banker

WASHINGTON — The federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic catapulted a niche sector of specialized community development lenders to a new level of prominence in American finance.

By Peter Lawrence, Novogradac

Addressing the county’s affordable housing crisis has become a top priority for Congress in recent weeks. That was made evident by three recent Senate hearings on the topic, which received bipartisan support.

By Samantha Fields, Marketplace

Construction of new homes fell 2% in June from a month earlier to the lowest level in nine months. The number of new building permits also fell. Confidence among homebuilders is way down.