OKLAHOMA

By Donna Kimura

OKLAHOMA CITY—The Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) will have $7 million in 2008 lowincome housing tax credit (LIHTC) authority—the same it had it 2007, and $600,000 less than it had in 2006. The final LIHTCs were scheduled to be reserved after press time, on Nov. 29, 2007.

"All categories were oversubscribed," said Darcy Green, housing development program supervisor for OHFA. "Nonprofit, elderly, rural developments … We don’t see any trend toward one or another, just a demand in excess of 3 to 1."

OHFA’s 2008 qualified allocation plan (QAP) is final, with LIHTCs to be reserved in two rounds. The first-round application deadline is Jan. 14, 2008, with a reservation date of May; the second-round deadline for applications is July 3, with reservations to be made in November.

Some changes in the 2008 QAP were that points awarded for preservation were increased and points awarded for management experience were reduced. OHFA also reduced the number of points awarded for projects with leveraged resources. Green said Oklahoma might witness an increase in preservation deals thanks to its emphasis in the 2008 QAP. Preservation has been a growing issue, but Oklahoma is still witnessing new construction deals, said Green. In 2006, about 20 percent of its annual tax credit authority went toward preservation. Since the last of the reservations were not made before press time, it is not known how much tax credit authority went to preservation in 2007.

Like other tax credit allocating agencies, OHFA has made green design a priority. "It will be impossible [for developers] to achieve the maximum points in our development amenities criterion without incorporating some green features," said Green.

Oklahoma is not seeing the skyrocketing costs that developers in other states have experienced, but costs are modestly going up. The trend toward homeownership in recent years would likely reduce the number of affordable units in the state, since single-family home deals have higher costs per unit.

OHFA does not anticipate allocating any tax-exempt bond financing for multifamily projects in 2008, said Darrell Beavers, OHFA’s housing development team manager. None was allocated in 2007, either.

2008 LIHTC PROGRAM: