Returning Housing Market
Urban Land Magazine
By Patricia L. Kirk
..."Trying to find money for affordable housing right now is extremely challenging," says Robert Buente, president and chief executive of 1010 Development Corporation, a faith-based Los Angeles nonprofit established by First Presbyterian Church to create affordable housing. He notes that a new federal tax credit exchange program saved California's tax credit program.
The exchange program was established by ARRA to help offset a 20 percent drop in the value of tax credits nationwide, says Jenny Schuetz, assistant professor at the University of Southern California School of Policy, Planning, and Development. Because of the budget shortfall, the state has no matching funds for affordable housing, but received funding through the federal exchange program. The program provides cash for 40 percent of a state's tax credit allocation at 82 cents on the dollar, Schuetz says...