HOUSING CHALLENGES: Where have we been, Where are we now and Where are we going?

The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, has released its annual The State of the Nation’s Housing report on June 14, 2010. This report provides a periodic assessment of the nation’s housing outlook and summarizes important trends in the economics and demographics of housing. The report continues to earn national recognition as a source of information regularly utilized by housing researchers, industry analyst, policy makers, and the business community.

In order for policy to be most effective – especially as it relates to housing, it is important to know the historical and current state of affairs, in order to successfully make plausible strides toward the future. According to The State of the Nation’s Housing 2009 report, the Summary of Housing Challenges revealed the following findings:

• Affordability Concerns – the share of cost-burdened households shot up by almost six percentage points between 2001 and 2007;
• Housing Conditions – about one in ten households in the bottom income quartile lived in inadequate housing in 2007;
• Employment Pressures – at the end of April 2009, unemployment had hit 8.9 percent or 5.7 million workers;
• Fragile Family Finances – aggregate household debt doubled;
• Race Matters - in April 2009, the unemployment rate was 15.0 percent for blacks, 11.3 percent for Hispanics, and 8.0 percent for whites;
• Crisis Responses – A study by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) revealed that state governments anticipated a revenue shortfall of $99 billion.

So what does The State of the Nation’s Housing 2010, Summary of Housing Challenges reveal compared to last year? The findings are listed as follows:
• Widespread Cost Burdens – the share of severely burdened households jumped to 16 percent in 2008;
• Income-Housing Cost Mismatch – in 2008, 24 percent of renters spent half or more of their income on housing;
• Unemployment & Housing Insecurity – in April 2010, 6.7 million workers had been out of work for more than six months;
• Household Deleveraging – between 2006 and 2009, bankruptcies climbed from 600,000 to 1.4 million.

Based on The State of the Nation’s Housing report, there were many housing challenges in 2009, while many of those same challenges were similarly indicated in the 2010 report. Despite, the previous and current years reported housing challenges, it is of essence to note the strides that are being made in getting America to brighter days.

So, exactly where are we heading? According to The State of the Nation’s Housing 2010report, the Housing Challenges summary has revealed the following:

• Federal Responses – 1.) States paid out $79.6 billion in unemployment benefits over the course of 2009, up from $32.4 billion in 2007; 2.) The federal government launched the Home Affordable Modification Program in 2009 to reduce housing payments for eligible households; 3.) While the $5.9 billion appropriated for The Neighborhood Stabilization Programs remains small – the program has been intended to target the neediest neighborhoods, even if only in a few areas; 4.) To help with local foreclosure prevention efforts, the federal government has also awarded $2.1 billion to Housing Finance Agencies in the five states with the steepest house price declines and an additional five states with high concentration of unemployment; 5.) The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative has launched, it is designed to make transformative investments in neighborhoods where public and assisted is concentrated; 6.) The government is also leveraging housing by providing some limited but path-breaking support for regional planning in coordination with the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency.

In addition to the federal programs listed above in The State of The Nation’s Housing 2010 report, North Carolina, recently passed Senate Bill (SB) 1015, which will be instrumental for North Carolinian Homeowners and Homebuyers:

• Local Policy - on July 7th, SB1015 (the Homeowner and Homebuyer Protection Act) passed the NC Senate and is on its way to Governor Perdue for her signature. This Bill will help NC homeowners facing unprecedented job loss and risk of foreclosure by prohibiting foreclosure rescue scams.

It goes without saying that it will likely take years for the repercussions from the Great Recession to abate. In the face of the challenges, the Obama Administration has focused on streamlining federal housing programs and continues to move toward programs that secure the fair market rent system. While the federal budget deficit continues to loom, it may take some time to notice a dent in the widespread housing affordability issues. However, it is worth noting where we have been, where we are now, and where we are going in our journey for continued housing affordability success.

To read the full report, go to…
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/markets/son2010/index.htm

HOUSING UPDATES!

Good afternoon! I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and enjoyed the fantastic weather we had, as summer’s heat is back. We’ve been busy at the Coalition, as this year’s legislative session is drawing to a close. See Carley’s legislative update below for all the details. Chris and Regina are out of the office this week on well-deserved vacations, but the rest of the staff is hard at work.
We’re excited to announce that registration for this year’s Annual Affordable Housing Conference has opened! Together with CICCAR and NCHFA, we’ll again be hosting the conference at the Raleigh Convention Center on September 16-17th.

Each year at our Annual Conference, we recognize those individuals who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to advocate for affordable housing. We are asking for nominees for our Volunteer and Professional of the Year Awards. Winners will be recognized at the Coalition’s luncheon on the second day.

On July 27th, we’re happy to partner with NC Legal Aid in offering a Fair Housing and Reasonable Accommodations/Modifications Workshop in Greensboro.

As we’ve mentioned before, the Coalition has had an ongoing relationship with UNC’s School of Social Work Department. Over the years, we’ve had students intern at the Coalition, which has been a positive experience. We’re happy to announce that our two interns from last year have secured jobs in partner organizations. Alex Bidot is now with Orange County Habitat for Humanity and Jessica Parker is with the Northern Moore Family Resource Center. We wish them the best and look forward to working with them in the future. We’d also like to officially welcome Kareema Whitfield to the Coalition, who will be interning for the summer.

Congratulations to DHIC, DCLT, and Self-Help on the grand opening of Maplewood Square Apartments in Durham! This is a beautiful development for fixed-income seniors. It was wonderful to witness the community’s support at last week’s celebration.

Also, thank you to the Durham Housing Coalition for inviting Chris and Anne to speak at the Durham Affordable Housing Summit last Thursday. Durham is making great progress in regards to affordable housing.

Thanks again for your continued support.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

State
Homeowner and Homebuyer Protection Act

Thank you for contacting your House members about SB1015! Yesterday, SB1015, The Homeowner and Homebuyer Protection Act passed the NC House by a vote of 89 – 23, thanks to your action!

Today, the Senate will vote whether to concur with the House version of the bill. There has been considerable pressure to weaken or kill the bill. Let’s keep that from happening! Please call your NC Senator and urge him/her to vote YES on SB1015! Click here to find your legislator's contact information. If the bill passes today and becomes law, it will prohibit foreclosure rescue scams and add greater consumer protections regarding “rent to own” contracts and contracts for deeds.

Thank you again for your hard work and firm support of this legislation!

State Foreclosure Prevention Program
SB 1216 has passed favorably out of the House and will likely pass the Senate this afternoon. SB 1216 will extend and expand the State Foreclosure Prevention Program that is administered by the Commissioner of Banks office. The program, set to expire in October, was put into place in 2008 to address the influx of foreclosures due to subprime lending. Since its inception, the program has connected thousands of North Carolinians facing foreclosure with HUD-certified housing counselors and helped over 4,000 people avoid foreclosure. If passed, SB1216 will extend the program to 2013 and open it to all types of home loans, not just subprime. The program would be funded by a fee on foreclosure filings.

National

National Housing Trust Fund: H.R.4213

The U.S. Senate ended the June work period and left for the July 4th recess without acting on H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010 (the extender bill). However, two elements of the bill, extension of unemployment benefits and the homebuyer tax credit, were decoupled from the larger bill and brought up separately. Both the Senate and the House passed the extension of the tax credit, but the Senate once again failed to get enough votes to preempt a filibuster of the bill extending unemployment benefits.

The Senate could take up a version of H.R. 4213, which includes a number of extensions of business-related tax credits as well as the funds for the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) and three important provisions related to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program after the July 4th recess. All these provisions are paid for by closing several tax loopholes that benefit certain business interests. Some pro-business groups have indicated they are less interested in the “extenders” passing if they come at the cost of increased taxes.

Housing advocates are urging House and Senate leaders to attach the NHTF to whatever legislative vehicle is sure to pass.

Comments Invited on CRA Regulations
The agencies that regulate banks and thrifts request written or oral comments on whether and how they should revise their regulations to better serve the Community Reinvestment Act’s goals. Public hearings will be held in four cities between July 19th and August 17th. Written comments may be submitted through August 31st.

National Homeless Plan Released
Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness is intended to serve as a roadmap for action by federal agencies along with local and state partners in the public and private sectors, to end veterans and chronic homelessness by 2015, and to end homelessness among children, family, and youth by 2020.

PLAEASE ACT TODAY!

Call your member of the House and ask them to Vote YES on SB1015 (the Homeowner and Homebuyer Protection Act) without any amendments that could weaken the bill.


Rep. Rick Glazier, Vice Chairman, 919-733-5601, Rick.Glazier@ncleg.net
(Cumberland)
Rep. Jimmy Love, Vice Chairman, 919-715-3026, Jimmy.Love@ncleg.net
(Harnett, Lee)
Rep. Jennifer Weiss, Vice Chairman, 919-715-3010, Jennifer.Weiss@ncleg.net
(Wake)
Rep. Hugh Blackwell, 919-733-5805, Hugh.Blackwell@ncleg.net
(Burke)
Rep. Alice Bordsen, 919-733-5820, mailto:Alice.Bordsen@ncleg.net
(Alamance)
Rep. Justin Burr, 919-733-5908, Justin.Burr@ncleg.net
(Montgomery, Stanly, Union)
Rep. James W. Crawford, 919-733-5824, Jim.Crawford@ncleg.net
(Granville, Vance)
Rep. Dale Folwell, 919-733-5787, Dale.Folwell@ncleg.net
(Forsyth)
Rep. Rosa Gill, 919-733-5880, Rosa.Gill@ncleg.net
(Wake)
Rep. Pat Hurley, 919-733-5865, Pat.Hurley@ncleg.net
(Randolph)
Rep. Darren Jackson, 919-733-5974, Darren.Jackson@ncleg.net
(Wake)
Rep. Linda Johnson, 919-733-5861, Linda.Johnson2@ncleg.net
(Cabarrus)
Rep. Earl Jones, 919-733-5825, Earl.Jones@ncleg.net
(Guilford)
Rep. Tim Moore, 919-733-4838, Tim.Moore@ncleg.net
(Cleveland)
Rep. Earline Parmon, 919-733-5829, Earline.Parmon@ncleg.net
(Forsyth)
Rep. Johnathan Rhyne, 919-733-5782, Johnathan.Rhyne@ncleg.net
(Lincoln)
Rep. Timothy Spear, 919-715-3029, Tim.Spear@ncleg.net
(Chowan, Dare, Hyde, Washington)

Please also contact:

Rep. Joe Hackney, Speaker of the House, 919-733-3451, Joe.Hackney@ncleg.net,
(Chatham, Moore, Orange)

NC Housing Update

Each week, NCHC Staff cover the state working on a variety of issues. Here's what we've been up to.

Regina travelled to Concord to support the Time to Build workshop for Housing Counselors held by Prosperity Unlimited. She then headed down to the Davidson Housing Coalition’s Open House. This week, she is attending the National Alliance of HUD Tenants conference in Washington DC with two tenants from eastern NC.

Anne and I travelled to Lexington to attend the opening of the new Homeownership Center. The Center is led by the Lexington CDC, but includes multiple partners so it can serve as a “one stop shop” for resources. It serves everyone with housing needs in Davidson County. From there, we headed to Greensboro to the opening of Churchview Farm, an affordable seniors development built by George Carr and Beacon Management. Congratulations to both groups for making a real difference in those communities. With all of the inevitable NIMBY opposition, it was great to see such good local support at these events.

Last week, Carley and I also spent the day in Charlotte meeting with members of the Mixed Income Housing Coalition about how to add our input to proposed revisions to the city’s locational policy. These guidelines have a big impact on where affordable housing can be built in Charlotte. However, the current policy only affects where assisted multi-family developments can be located. It does not impact the location of Section 8 rentals and fails to consider broader community development strategies for vulnerable communities where tax credit multifamily development can be an effective form of community investment. We are glad that Charlotte has seen that change is needed in the policy and will encourage city leadership to look at the issue more holistically. Please let us know if your community is reviewing its locational policies and if we can help you provide feedback to improve them.

Next week, several staff will be at the opening of Maplewood Apartments in Durham. This is a collaborative effort between Self Help, Durham Community Land Trust, and DHIC of Raleigh. The next day, I will be speaking at the CDC Association’s Sustainability Conference in Charlotte, and the day after I will be at the the Housing Summit in Durham led by the Durham Affordable Housing Coalition. See the Announcements section for more information this opportunities.