The Buzz

By Donna Kimura

(Affordable Housing Finance, July 2005)

Chatter:
Fannie, Freddie experiment

“This is an experiment in socialism.”

– Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., on a House bill that would require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to devote 5% of their annual after-tax profits to an affordable housing fund. The May 27, 2005, Wall Street Journal reported that he attempted to remove the fund from the bill.

Historic TCs leverage $3.9 billion

Washington, D.C. – The National Park Service (NPS) reported approving 1,200 projects under the Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program in fiscal year 2004.

NPS leaders attribute the strong activity to greater awareness and the existence of various state and local preservation tax credits that can piggyback onto the federal incentives. Officials also reported that 5,357 low- and moderate-income housing units were created. In addition, the credits leveraged a record-setting $3.9 billion in private investment. In fiscal year 2004, Missouri was the most active state, with 92 certified projects totaling $357 million in private investment.

One of the largest projects to receive federal credits last year was the Liggett and Myers Building in St. Louis. HRI, Inc., of New Orleans recently completed a $47 million conversion of the building into 213 loft apartments, reported NPS.

For more information, visit www.nps.gov.

More homes valued at $1 million

When Jed Clampett became a millionaire, he loaded up the truck and moved to California. Today, he would need to spend much of his fortune on a place to live.

As median home values across the nation have risen, so has the proportion of houses valued at $1 million or more, according to a new report from the Census Bureau. California led the country with the highest median home value at $316,000. The state also had the highest percentage of million-dollar homes. Almost one in 25 homes in California (4.1%) was valued at $1 million or more, according to the Census Bureau. At the other end, the state with the lowest median home value was West Virginia, at $78,200.

The national median home value in 2003 was about $140,000. That’s up nearly 16% in three years, and the percentage of million-dollar homes nearly doubled from 0.5% to 1%.

Visit www.census.gov for more information.

Most affordable metro region: Youngstown

The Youngstown, Ohio, metropolitan statistical area was named the nation’s most affordable housing market among major metro areas with populations of more than 500,000 by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index for the first quarter of 2005.

Other metro areas that ranked high on the affordability scale were Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich.; Dayton, Ohio; and Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y. Least affordable? The Los Angeles region.

When it came to smaller metros with populations of less than 500,000, Lima, Ohio, was tops in affordability and was the most affordable statistical area ranked overall.

For more information, go to www.nahb.org.

Unauthorized duplication of articles in Affordable Housing Finance, Apartment Finance Today, or HousingFinance.com is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved and all copyrights held by Hanley Wood, LLC. Reproduction of this publication in whole or in part in any form, on paper or electronically, without written permission from the publisher is prohibited by law.