A recession only increases demand for less-pricey homes and apartments, so affordable-housing builders aren't used to downturns affecting their line of work. But no one nowadays is avoiding the ripple impact of tight credit and tightfisted investors.
"While it always has been challenging to do affordable housing, it's even more so today," said Chickie Grayson, president and chief executive of Enterprise Homes, the building arm of affordable-housing giant Enterprise Community Partners.
You can read about it in my story today, which explains how the credit crunch is decreasing the number of affordable rentals under construction and making it more difficult for groups to sell homes aimed at moderate-income workers.
Who qualifies for partially subsidized affordable housing, assuming there's any to be had? It depends on the program, but some homeownership efforts let you buy if you're making no more than 80 percent of your area's median household income. Around here, that works out to $44,800 for a one-person household, $51,200 for two, $57,600 for three and $64,000 for four.
That's the limit for eight "green" townhomes built by the Brooklyn and Curtis Bay Coalition, which says higher down payment requirements and tougher loan qualification rules have kept interested people from becoming buyers.
Continue reading "Market's tough for affordable housing, too" »
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