Housing

HUD: FHA Offers Incentives for Property Owners Who Invest in Opportunity Zones

Lower costs and dedicated underwriters to stimulate housing investment in distressed neighborhoods The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today announced a package of incentives to encourage multi-family property owners to invest in thousands of neighborhoods located in Opportunity Zones across the nation. Read today’s Housing Notice. FHA is introducing reduced application fees paid by property owners applying…

HUD: Council on Foundations and HUD Announce Winners of Secretary’s Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Council on Foundations announced the 2019 winners of the Secretary’s Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships. The awards recognize innovative partnerships between foundations and government that have been critical in transforming communities and improving the quality of life for low-and moderate-income residents across the country….

HUD: National Association of Home Builders to Co-Host HUD Innovative Housing Showcase

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson today announced the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) will co-host the Department’s inaugural “Innovative Housing Showcase.” The Innovative Housing Showcase will be held on the National Mall June 1-5, 2019, to educate policy makers and the broader public on the new housing innovations…

FHFA: New Report Details Progress on the 2018 Scorecard for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a Scorecard Progress Report today summarizing the 2018 activities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) to further FHFA’s three strategic objectives as conservator:  Maintain, Reduce, and Build.    Interested parties are invited to provide input on this Report. Feedback can be submitted via FHFA.gov, or to the…

HUD and Census: New Residential Sales Report for March 2019

 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential sales statistics for March 2019: New Home Sales Sales of new single-family houses in March 2019 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 692,000. This is 4.5 percent (±17.6 percent)* above the revised February…

FHFA: House Price Index Up 0.3 Percent in February 2019, Up 4.9 Percent from Last Year

U.S. house prices rose in February, up 0.3 percent from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) seasonally adjusted monthly House Price Index (HPI).  The previously reported 0.6 percent increase for January 2019 remained unchanged.   The FHFA monthly HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to, or guaranteed by,…

HUD: Additional $15 Million Awarded to Fight Housing Discrimination

Grants to support and promote fair housing nationwide To help end housing discrimination, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded an additional $15 million to support dozens of fair housing organizations working to confront violations of the nation’s landmark Fair Housing Act (see grant chart below). HUD’s grants are provided through…

FHFA: Dr. Mark Calabria Sworn in as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency

In an Agency ceremony, Dr. Mark A. Calabria was sworn in today to a five-year term as the second Senate-confirmed Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).  Dr. Calabria was appointed to head the Agency by President Donald J. Trump.  FHFA was created by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008 to…

Census Bureau: Housing Vacancy Annual Statistics Released for 2018

These statistics provide vacancy rates, homeownership rates and characteristics of units available for occupancy for the United States, regions, states and the 75 largest metropolitan statistical areas. Data for all geographies are available both quarterly and annually. Homeownership rates are also tabulated by age of householder for the United States and regions, and by race/ethnicity…

HUD: Proposed Rule Issued to Make Section 3 More Efficient and Effective

Section 3 is a HUD statute that requires recipients of HUD funding to the greatest extent feasible employ low- and very-low income persons and businesses in the communities HUD serves The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today published a proposed rule to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of Section 3 of the…