News

Economists Donald Marron and Philip Swagel, recently published a new proposal for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage finance giants that were placed into government conservatorship in 2008 during the housing market collapse.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently proposed a new rule that would establish a system for evaluating and rating the performance of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in serving three specific underserved markets identified in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) in 2008 ““ manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural markets.

HUD’s Office of Policy Research & Development has released a new information system containing labor force data for cities from a database of Local Area Unemployment Statistics data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee last week released additional documents related to the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (H.R. 4213), better known as the tax extenders bill.

The Louisiana Housing Finance Agency (LHFA) has released a notice of ten frequently asked questions relating to LHFA’s 2010 RFP for market analysts.

The federal bank and thrift regulatory agencies have announced the availability of the 2010 list of distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies where revitalization or stabilization activities will receive Community Reinvestment Act consideration as “community development.”

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) has released its draft Utility Allowance (UA) Policy for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Projects.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan this week announced the Obama Administration’s nomination of C. Donald Babers to serve as the Department’s Southwest Regional Director.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently published a guide for the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program.

Last week, the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association welcomed over 120 industry professionals to Washington, DC for its 2010 Spring Affordable Housing Policy Forum. The highly praised program explored the critical nexus between today’s changing public policy environment and affordable housing development, as well as combined NH&RA’s traditional transaction-oriented sessions with valuable social networking opportunities.

HUD has published its FY-2010 Choice Neighborhoods Imitative (CNI) NOFA Pre-Notice. CNI is funded at $65,000,000 in FY-2010. The pre-notice is intended to help potential applicants prepare for the application process. It sets out the core goals of the initiative and outlines the framework and selection criteria for the competition.

HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research has released a report, “Preview of Data for U.S. Housing Market Conditions 1st Quarter 2010.” Published quarterly, the report provides statistical data and written reports on housing market conditions in the U.S.