Abram Mamet Author Archives

Cris White retired as CEO of CHFA in February, closing a 35-year chapter with the organization. His lengthy tenure reflects CHFA’s strong workplace culture, positioning the organization to tackle complex housing challenges.

Although the LIHTC remains a primary driver of housing production in the United States, fierce competition for credits and sustained regulatory challenges have prompted developers to seek alternative funding sources in recent years.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development recently adopted a rule update to its Home Investment Partnerships program (HOME). This is the first major update to the HOME program since 2013.

The affordable housing sector, crucial for over a million Americans, is navigating uncertain times. A recent NH&RA panel offered a platform for thought leaders to discuss the future and share insights.

For mission-committed developers who have taken up the task of building subsidized affordable housing for seniors, HUD’s Section 202 program has continued to provide a vital financial boost to new senior housing projects.

By many accounts, 2024 was a challenging year within the affordable housing industry. Multi-year difficulties, such as inflationary pressure, supply chain disruptions and environmental burdens persisted, while fresh hurdles like rapidly rising insurance rates began to take hold.

In recent years, developers have turned to the centuries-old concept of ground leases as a powerful tool in the contemporary struggle to pencil deals and close increasingly wide funding gaps.

Over the past decade, few segments of the population have felt the squeeze of the country’s affordable housing crisis as acutely as middle-income households earning between 60 and 120 percent of the area median income. Earning too much to qualify for most government-subsidized housing programs but too little to afford the majority of new housing stock entering the market, these renters are finding themselves less and less able to secure high-quality housing within their means.

Any outside observer may assume some unease amongst the low-income housing industry. Buffeted on the one hand by residual stressors from the COVID-19 pandemic and on the other by the uncertain prospects of an incoming federal administration keen on cutting spending and shrinking government programs, the affordable housing landscape is experiencing an inflection point.

The IRS has announced an increase to the LIHTC per-capita multiplier, providing a modest boost to the LIHTC market for 2025.

Most National Council of Housing Market Analysts (NCHMA) annual meetings begin with a roundtable from developers, to help ground the conference in the ‘on the ground’ work that the market analysis industry exists to support.

In a study that provides key insights for housing leaders nationwide, researchers in Indiana Earlier this year, the Maryland Office of the Comptroller released its first State of the Economy report, highlighting issues and trends as the “Old Line State” continues to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.