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Panelists Propose Solutions to Improve the Efficacy of Housing Choice Vouchers
Panelists at the Furman Center’s State of the City launch event on May 21 discussed the challenges of administering a federal voucher program and proposed a range of solutions to improve its function—including expanding housing supply, offering more operational flexibility for localities, strengthening protections against discrimination from landlords, and coaching people as they navigate the program so they are empowered to move into new neighborhoods.
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Research & Policy
The White House’s Focus on Closing Costs: Long Overdue and Worth the Fight (Part 2)
The White House has recently prioritized addressing the high costs associated with closing on home purchases, which have become a significant barrier to homeownership affordability. President Biden has criticized “anti-competitive” practices, especially in title insurance, while the National Association of Realtors (NAR) faces legal repercussions for maintaining high brokerage commissions. Part 2 of this analysis highlights how various closing costs remain high due to a lack of price competition, perpetuated by effective lobbying against reforms. The paper suggests that the long-standing resistance to reform might be weakening, with recent developments like private lawsuits, government initiatives, and coordinated efforts between agencies potentially leading to substantial reductions in closing costs, thereby improving affordability and efficiency in the housing market.
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Research & Policy
The Use of Housing Choice Vouchers in New York City
More than 5 million low-income people across the country use Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers to help subsidize their housing costs. In our latest study, the Furman Center analyzed rent burdens and the rent paid by typical voucher holders to understand the role vouchers play in making housing affordable in New York City.
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Research & Policy
Closing Cost Reform: Long Overdue and Worth the Fight (Part 1)
President Biden highlighted housing affordability in his recent State of the Union speech, addressing high closing costs as a significant barrier, especially for first-time homebuyers. Part 1, which focuses on buyer-paid closing costs, particularly title insurance, concludes that market distortions contribute to high closing costs, impacting housing affordability. This emphasizes the need to examine and potentially reform closing costs.
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Institutional Owned Land and New York City’s Housing Crisis: The Extent of Faith-Based Owned Land Ownership
As New York City grapples with its most severe housing shortage in over half a century, state and local policymakers are actively seeking a range of ways to promote housing development using institutionally-owned land, including Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs). To gauge the opportunity’s scale, the NYU Furman Center analyzed the zoning of FBO-owned land in New York City, detailing its scope and geographic spread.
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Five Principles for a New 421-a Property Tax Exemption
A property tax exemption in New York City is necessary to make rental housing development financially feasible across the city’s varied markets, according to a new policy brief by the NYU Furman Center. Without an exemption, the costs associated with development, which are further exacerbated by high property taxes, would significantly hinder new rental development, especially of mixed-income developments that can provide new housing options for lower-income families.
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Research & Policy
The GSE Public-Private Hybrid Model Flunks Again: This Time It’s the Federal Home Loan Bank System (Part 2)
In this analysis, Part 2 of a series, Senior Visiting Fellow Donald H. Layton lays out the shortcomings of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, explaining how it has deviated from its original mission and how its structure inherently favors profit over purpose. He also explores the FHFA’s efforts to reform the FHLB System and the challenges ahead, proposing solutions to ensure a lasting balance between mission and profit.
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Navigating the Tradeoffs of Good Cause Eviction
As lawmakers in Albany debate how to fix New York’s housing affordability crisis, a new research brief by the NYU Furman Center examines the possible effects of how a good cause eviction requirement might affect tenants, landlords, and the housing market. The paper also analyzes good cause legislation in other cities and states to help policymakers consider how to balance anticipated tradeoffs.
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Maximizing Underused Hospital-Owned Land for Affordable Housing
To assist city and state policymakers, planners, housing developers, community development organizations, and other stakeholders, the NYU Furman Center released an interactive map analyzing healthcare facility and hospital-owned (HHO) properties and their suitability for housing development as part of our March 7 conference with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York: Fostering Neighborhoods: Hospitals and the Development of Affordable Housing.
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The GSE Public-Private Hybrid Model Flunks Again: This Time It’s the Federal Home Loan Bank System (Part 1)
Senior Visiting Fellow Donald H. Layton argues in a two-part article that the root cause of the need for reform in the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System and other government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) is a fundamental flaw in Congress’ design of GSEs. Part 1 of this two-part article draws a parallel between the FHLBs and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (F&F), while Part 2 will focus on the FHLBs and how the GSE design flaw has similarly manifested itself.