Don could you post some of that information? My banker and broker both are seeing some leveling off but still a good market here in the California, Bay Area. There's more units on the market but prices have not corrected down. Except for the over 1 million market where some softness is showing. A market I don't advocate or participated in. Excluding multi lot development I've had some experience with.
dave
ps: Here's some news if you have a moment?
realestate.yahoo.com
Rental housing crisis
Inman News Features
A new coalition of big-name housing industry associations is urging Congress to implement a 25 percent increase in the base amount the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) can insure for multifamily housing production and add additional allowances for high-cost areas of the country.
The higher loan limit would spur production of federally insured affordable rental housing in an effort to address the growing needs of low- and moderate-income families, the group argues.
The newly formed group, Coalition for Affordable Rental Housing, recently released data showing that new construction of federally insured affordable rental housing has all but ceased in several large cities.
Coalition figures show no new units of FHA-backed multifamily housing were produced last year in New York City, Boston or San Francisco, and only one new FHA-insured multifamily development was built in Dallas, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
Other major cities where federally insured rental housing production dropped to zero last year include Akron and Cincinnati, Ohio; Baltimore, Md.; Birmingham, Ala.; Norfolk, Va.; Oakland and San Jose, Calif.; Providence, R.I.; Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y.; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Tampa, Fla. Each of these cities has thousands of families that are paying more than 50 percent of their household income for housing or living in severely inadequate housing.
"Homeownership may be the American dream, but finding affordable rental housing is often a nightmare for many working families," said Andrew D. Woodward, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, a coalition member.
"We are facing an affordable rental housing crisis in this country. Raising the FHA multifamily loan limits is an important first step in solving this problem. This change will have an immediate impact by allowing the FHA and its housing partners to increase the supply of affordable housing for working families," he added.
Other coalition members include the National Association of Realtors, the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, the National Apartment Association, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Leased Housing Association, the National Multi Housing Council and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
A significant gap exists between the demand for and the supply of affordable rental housing, according to the coalition. A review of recent Census Bureau figures released last month by MBA and the National Housing Conference confirms the continuing housing crisis for low-income families and reveals that the number of moderate-income families facing a critical need for rental housing has grown alarmingly in recent years. Only 748 FHA-insured multifamily new-construction or substantial-rehabilitation loans--producing just 127,409 units--were funded nationally during the past four years, according to recent FHA statistics.
"It's extremely expensive and difficult to build multifamily projects, and the resulting rents are often higher than working families can afford," said Bruce Smith, president of the home builders association and a home builder from Walnut Creek, Calif.
"Builders want to be able to meet this great demand, but they are hindered by the FHA loan limits. Raising the cap on FHA-insured multifamily loans would help to finance the construction of affordable rental housing, particularly in high-cost urban areas, where it is desperately needed," Smith added.
The FHA provides insurance to back financing of multifamily housing development. The mortgage insurance limits haven’t been raised since 1992, even though housing construction costs have increased 25 percent, according to the coalition. |
