News
SPECIAL REPORT: POVERTY & AFFORDABLE HOUSING
September 19, 2011
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| The Census Bureau came out with some non-shocking news recently: The proportion of impoverished Americans spiked from 14.3% to 15.1% last year. (That's 46.2 million of us.) University of Southern California Lusk Center's Gary Painter tells us there's a Catch-22 for tenants facing unemployment as rents and demand rise in the major metros. What then? Households are combining. (Stock tip: invest in bunk beds.) Typically, one million new households form in the US every year; since ?08, though, there?ve been only one million total. |
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| Marcus & Millichap tax credit group head Robert Sheppard says the demand for affordable housing is rising due to high unemployment and former residential owners joining the rental pool, snagging Class-B and C apartments. But the production of new affordable apartments hit a 17-year low in '10, Harvard?s Joint Center on Housing reported in April. Last year, 124,000 new units were built versus the average production of 232,000 units from ?00 through ?08. In '09, the supply shortage rose to 6.4 million apartments, up nearly 50% from 4.3 million in ?03. |
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| The recent poverty numbers quantified what we already know: Many can't afford to live where they are. In Austin, Apartment Realty Advisors principal Dave Fournier tells us affordable housing occupancy is particularly tight for the LIHTC properties that serve tenants at 30% of area median income in high cost markets. As demand for affordable housing rises, therefore, strong market fundamentals are driving investors into affordable from the market-rate sector. The hottest affordable markets: California, Florida, and core cities. |
