_760_430_s_c1.gif)
The Stoop »
The latest news and analysis from the NYU Furman Center.
-
Research & Policy
Government Mortgage Interest Rates: A Serious Discussion about the Intertwined Topics of Risk Adjustment and Cross-subsidies
The purpose of this article is to address the very serious – and not broadly understood or openly discussed – interrelated topics of interest rate risk adjustment (or the lack thereof) and the embedded and often hidden cross-subsidies that today are found at the four government mortgage agencies, i.e., the two GSES plus the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
-
News & Events
NYU Furman Center Releases State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods in 2022
We are thrilled to announce the release of the comprehensive report the State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods in 2022. This work sheds light on the evolving landscape of housing and communities in New York City, providing valuable insights into the city’s vibrant and diverse neighborhoods.
-
Research & Policy
The Weakness of Neighborhood Revitalization Planning in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program: Warnings from Connecticut
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (“LIHTC”) is the nation’s largest program to produce and preserve subsidized housing. To ensure that LIHTC avoids harmfully concentrating poverty, entrenching segregation, or inefficiently deploying resources, federal law requires that states prioritize allocating credits to projects located in high-poverty locations that contribute to a “concerted community revitalization plan” (“CCRP”). In high-poverty neighborhoods, tax credit developments are meant to facilitate broader neighborhood revitalization, not only to benefit the residents of the housing itself. This working paper by Noah Kazis, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, and Faculty Director Kathy O’Regan provides new, empirical support for long-standing concerns that the CCRP process is ineffectively enforced.
-
Research & Policy
Manufactured Housing Is a Good Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing - Except When It’s Not: Q&A on Eight Key Policy Topics (Part 2)
Manufactured housing (MH) has recently taken on a high profile among affordable housing advocates, including in the Biden administration. As described in Part 1 of this three-part series, MH has more complex economics than conventional owned or rented housing, particularly with respect to the significant market share of MH where the structure is owned by its resident but the underlying land is rented from someone else. The challenge in such cases is that the MH resident does not get to enjoy the two significant social benefits of homeownership that have long been used to justify government intervention to subsidize and support it: building net worth to support retirement and the next generation, and avoiding landlord-generated housing instability. Part 2 examines eight key policy topics, via a Q&A format, that must be accurately understood to develop effective policy that can expand affordable housing via MH.
-
Research & Policy
Implications and Geography of Office to Housing Conversions
In their “Making New York Work for Everyone” plan, released in January, Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul expressed eagerness to build more housing in New York City’s business districts after COVID. But due to significant financing, zoning, and design challenges in converting office buildings to residential, only select offices make good candidates for conversion, and few offices have actually converted in recent years. This post describes three resources to help inform the conversions debate.
