Federal updates
- Senate Democrats acknowledged last week that they wouldn’t meet the self-imposed deadline of Memorial Day for cutting a deal on a reconciliation package. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that negotiations are over. Democrats appear to be pushing back the target date for coming to an agreement with Senator Manchin. Now they are looking at the start of the August recess as the new deadline, which would give them most of August to draft legislation and the month of September to vote. That timing will still be a challenge, especially so close to the midterm election.
- Sandra Thompson has been confirmed by the Senate as the new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The FHFA oversees the bulk of the mortgage market. Thompson has been leading the agency on a temporary basis for nearly a year after President Biden appointed her acting director of FHFA in June 2021. She was nominated for the permanent job in December and is the first African American woman to be confirmed to this role.
- Congress is out on recess this week, returning next week.
State updates
- Caldwell Presbyterian Church in Charlotte is seeking funding to convert one of the church’s unused buildings into as many as 21 apartments. The units will be affordable to households earning 30-50% of the area median income: Seeking Solutions: Churches providing affordable housing | WNCN Charlotte
- Vivo Living, a California-based real estate firm is seeking solutions to the affordable housing crisis in Charlotte by turning a hotel on North Tryon Street into an apartment building. Vivo currently owns 19 “recycled” hotels across the U.S., including three in North Carolina. The goal is for rent to be up to 20% below market value without compromising amenities: Developer turning University City hotel into affordable housing | WCNC Charlotte
- Mecklenburg County included $500,000 in its proposed budget to study the impact of corporate landlords on the local housing market and develop strategies to address those impacts: Mecklenburg County may spend $500K to address impacts from corporate landlords | Charlotte Observer
- Fayetteville is planning to use $8 million in federal HUD funds to build and improve access to affordable housing. The city is looking at converting some of the older hotels into housing, as well as considering incentives for contractors to build more affordable homes: Fayetteville mayor addresses affordable housing; ‘amount for rent doesn’t line up’ | CBS 17
- Under the Town of Cary’s 2023 budget, affordable housing would gain an increase of $9 million from a combination of town sources and federal American Rescue Plan Act funding. The $5 million in funds from ARPA are intended to begin implementation of the Cary Housing Plan: Cary proposed budget increases staff pay, funds Downtown Park. What that means for taxes | Raleigh N&O
Reports, events, resources
- Report: Balancing Act: An Analysis of Remaining Emergency Assistance Funds, Reallocation and Outstanding Need | NLIHC
- Podcast: What’s Going On With the U.S. Housing Market? | The Ringer
- Effective Zoning Reform Isn’t as Simple as It Seems | Bloomberg City Lab
- Fed Searches for the Magic Number to Cool a Red-Hot U.S. Housing Market | Wall Street Journal
- Biden’s New Housing Plan: Fire Up the House Factories | Bloomberg City Lab
- Chairman Price Statement at Manufactured Housing: Supporting America’s Largest Unsubsidized Affordable Housing Stock Hearing | The House Committee on Appropriations
- Wells Fargo and Habitat for Humanity to Build 350 Affordable Homes in the U.S. | Business Wire
- “In crisis mode” Cost just one hurdle builders face with affordable housing projects | WMYA
- ‘Affordable housing is such an issue’: Person County Habitat for Humanity looking for volunteers | ABC 11
- Charlotte’s population isn’t the only thing growing. Houses are getting bigger, too. | Charlotte Observer
