Introduction President Biden recently addressed the pressing issue of housing affordability in his recent State of the Union (SOTU) speech, announcing several initiatives to tackle it.  Most of his homeownership-related proposals were variations of the tax credit and downpayment assistance programs already much discussed by his party’s policymakers.  Unexpectedly, he also identified high closing costs as a significant obstacle to home affordability.  In particular, he called out title insurance1 for potential cost savings.   Just days later, the National Association of Rea ..read more

A property tax exemption in New York City is necessary to make rental housing development financially feasible across the city’s varied markets, according to a new policy brief by the NYU Furman Center. Without an exemption, the costs associated with development, which are further exacerbated by high property taxes, would significantly hinder new rental development, especially of mixed-income developments that can provide new housing options for lower-income families. A significant portion of New York City’s newly built housing has relied upon a 421-a exemption. Between 2010 and 2020, 68 perc ..read more

Introduction The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System1 is a relatively unknown but important part of America’s housing and financial system, with over $1 trillion in assets. It was established by Congress in 1932 and today consists of 11 regional FHLBanks that operate as one system, cross-guaranteeing each other’s debts. It is considered one of America’s government- sponsored enterprises (GSEs), i.e., public-private hybrid corporations created by Congress and authorized to engage only in a narrowly-tailored set of activities. The private persona of a GSE is that it is owned and capitalized by ..read more

As lawmakers in Albany debate how to fix New York’s housing affordability crisis, a new research brief by the NYU Furman Center examines the possible effects of how a good cause eviction requirement might affect tenants, landlords, and the housing market. The paper also analyzes good cause legislation in other cities and states to help policymakers consider how to balance anticipated tradeoffs.   In 2023, Albany lawmakers failed to pass any significant legislation that could have addressed the city’s affordability problems, with a good cause bill at the center of the legislative sta ..read more

As New York City faces its worst housing crisis in over 50 years, policymakers are looking to connect affordable housing developers with a range of institutional stakeholders from hospitals to faith-based organizations to find ways to increase the supply of homes.  To assist city and state policymakers, planners, housing developers, community development organizations, and other stakeholders, the NYU Furman Center released an interactive map analyzing healthcare facility and hospital-owned (HHO) properties and their suitability for housing development as part of our March 7 conference wit ..read more

Introduction In November of last year, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) published a report1 (the Report) recommending reforms for the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System.2 The report came about at a time when the FHLBs have been increasingly criticized for neglecting their housing and community development mission and instead using their subsidies and privileges to benefit their financial institution owners and executives. Written in a neutral regulatory tone, the document largely validates these criticisms via facts and analysis, and then proposes extensive recommendations for chan ..read more

Top New York City officials urged state leaders in Albany to provide the necessary funding and legislative support to build additional housing as the city contends with its worst housing crunch in over 50 years.  "We are facing a dire housing shortage,” said Adrienne Adams, City Council Speaker at the NYU Furman Center’s Policy Breakfast event Feb. 7.  “We need our state partners to be involved. We need their buy-in—literally, their buy-in—to what we’re doing.”  The plea from decision-makers comes as New York City’s vacancy rate has dropped to 1.4 percent—the lowest mark since ..read more

New York State's highest court is set to hear a case filed by Tax Equity Now New York, which alleges New York City's property tax system of unlawfully discriminating against New Yorkers of color and favoring wealthy, white residents. This notoriously complex system, which varies significantly from the rest of the country, often adversely impacts low-income residents of color. Our 2011 State of the City report serves as a primer, explaining how these property taxes are calculated and revealing the potential for ongoing inequity in the city’s tax system. To understand whether and to what extent ..read more

New research shows building more homes can slow regional rent growth and free up units for residents across the spectrum of incomes, according to a new paper from the NYU Furman Center.  Furman Center faculty directors Vicki Been, Ingrid Gould Ellen, and Kathy O’Regan recently released “Supply Skepticism Revisited”, highlighting the latest rigorous research that draws out the nuanced effects housing supply has on housing affordability. The paper delves into arguments made by “supply skeptics” and counters them with evidence from recent studies that show the positive impact additional hou ..read more

This week, September 6 to be exact, marks the fifteenth anniversary of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae – the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) - being placed into conservatorship by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).[1]  This occurred at the very height of the Great Financial Crisis (GFC), when market confidence in the value of mortgage assets and more generally in the liquidity of large financial institutions was collapsing.  I think it can fairly be said that no one at that time ever expected conservatorship to last so long, especially as Secretary of the Treasury Pau ..read more