States allocated more than $1.1 billion in low-income housing tax credits?$917.4 million from their annual state ceiling and another $186.9 million to bond-financed properties?in 2010, according to a new analysis by the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA).
Demand for the credits was more than twice the available authority, with developers requesting more than $2.2 billion in credits.
In 2010, more than half of the units receiving credits were newly constructed. However, only 31 percent of the bond-financed units allocated tax credits were for newly built units, suggesting a continuing trend that the bond program is being used for preservation efforts, said the NCSHA.
The organization released its findings in its new “2010 Factbook,” a comprehensive survey of housing finance agency (HFA) program activity.
On the single-family home side, there was a 41 percent increase in the number of homes financed by HFAs in 2010, noted NCSHA officials. HFAs financed 59,127 affordable homes that year compared with 41,857 in 2009.
“We are very proud of this annual undertaking that provides hard evidence of HFA program results and successes,” said Executive Director Barbara J. Thompson in a statement. “The combination of the trends that we are seeing in the ‘2010 Factbook,’ along with what we are hearing from the HFA community, is a positive indication that the housing market recovery efforts are moving in the right direction.”
NCSHA publishes the Factbook to assist HFAs in comparing their programs with those of other state HFAs. The report covers six key areas?administration and budget characteristics; private-activity bond volume cap usage; mortgage revenue bonds; housing tax credits; multifamily bonds; and HOME Investment Partnerships.
The Factbook is available for purchase, starting at $50, at www.ncsha.org.
