Friday’s Government Reports

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its Annual Report to Congress on the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, an independent actuarial analysis that found capital reserves at 2.7%. Congress mandates a minimum 2% reserve. The findings also reveal a 3rd consecutive year of growth for the fund which is now worth 23.8 Billion (up 19 billion from 2014).

Tuesday’s Regulatory & Legislative Round-Up

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio recently unveiled an Inclusionary Housing Program which allows developers to build beyond existing restrictions if they create permanent affordable units, this is one of the most aggressive programs in the country – as many as one in four new apartments will include permanently affordable and low income units (available as rental or ownership programs).
While the U.S. Congress is in recess advocacy groups are encouraging members to get in touch with their representatives who will be considering tax extenders and other affordable housing legislation when they return.

Federal Housing Finance Agency released its annual Guarantee Fee Report, which tracks the upward trend in single family guarantee fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 requires FHFA to submit a report to Congress annually on guarantee fees. Guarantee fees are intended to cover the costs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac incur for guaranteeing the payment of principal and interest on single-family loans they purchase from mortgage lenders. These costs include projected credit losses from borrower defaults over the life of the loans, administrative costs, and a return on capital.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in conjunction with Vanderbilt University released the Family Options Study in which presents the short-term impacts of the interventions in five domains related to family well-being: (1) housing stability, (2) family preservation, (3) adult well-being,(4) child well-being, and (5) self-sufficiency.

Enterprise Community Partners issued a side by side comparison of the four housing finance reform bills currently in congress many of which seek to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
NYU’s Furman Center released its annual Report: State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods in 2014, part I of which is a focus on density – notes that while the population has grown density is actually down.
The Urban Institute recently released its Affordable Housing Needs Assessment for the District of Columbia in which it makes a neighborhood by neighborhood evaluation of housing need and concludes that on the whole housing costs exceed affordability for the majority of residents.