New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) have been utilized in nearly 4,000 real estate investments across the country between 2003 and 2011, according to the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund).

Established by Congress in 2000, the NMTC program seeks to spur investment in low-income communities. The latest statistics from the CDFI Fund reveal that:

  • 749 awards allocating $36.5 billion in NMTC allocation authority have been made through 2012;
  • 3,990 qualified low-income community investments (QLICIs) in the amount of $17.7 billion have been made in real estate development and leasing activities through fiscal 2011;
  • 2,637 QLICIs  in the amount of $8 billion have been made in businesses through fiscal 2011;
  • 185 QLICIs in the amount of $717.6 million have been invested in other community development entities through fiscal 2011;
  • More than 75 percent of the credits were invested in census tracts that met at least one of three indicators of “severe distress;” and
  • About 13.3 percent of investments have been directed to non-metropolitan areas since the program’s inception.

Read about the most recent allocation of NMTCs here.