Weekly update from the National Housing Conference | |
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NHC mourns the loss of affordable housing leader, Carol Lamberg
The National Housing Conference (NHC) mourns the loss of our colleague, mentor, and friend Carol Lamberg, a longtime member of NHC’s Board of Governors and its Executive Committee. She also served as Regional Vice President of the National Housing Conference. She passed peacefully on January 20th at age 85 years. “Carol epitomized the affordable housing advocate with mud on her boots,” said David Dworkin, NHC’s President and CEO. “She approached housing policy with the knowledge and experience of a developer who put the needs of tenants and communities first. She was a mentor to generations of housing leaders and her impact will be felt in housing policy and the lives of thousands of low-income families throughout New York City and across the country.”
Carol was a visionary who dedicated her life to improving equality through affordable housing and reform. She was Executive Director of Settlement Housing Fund from 1983 until she retired in February 2014. She worked on its staff since its inception in 1969.
Settlement Housing Fund has developed 69 projects with over 8,900 apartments — rentals, cooperatives, and two-family houses — that are home to more than 25,000 low- and moderate-income residents, including formerly homeless New Yorkers. Most of the developments that Settlement Housing Fund now owns are mixed-income buildings, occupied by families whose incomes range from public assistance levels to about $85,000. The developments often include community amenities and programs.
Carol was also Staff Director and co-founder of the New York Housing Conference before becoming Co-Chair from 2008 until 2016. In that capacity, she had drafted amendments to the Housing Act of 1937, the National Housing Act, and the New York State Private Housing Finance Law. She has written policy studies and articles for housing and architectural journals, op-ed articles, and has testified before legislative bodies, commissions, and government agencies. Carol authored two books on affordable housing - Neighborhood Success Stories: Creating and Sustaining Affordable Housing in New York, and Housing Security: A Section 8 Memoir.
Carol received the Lifetime Achievement award from the New York Housing Conference in 2013 and LISC’s Leah Schneider Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. She has also won awards from the National Housing Conference, Citizens Housing and Planning Council, Flemister House, Hamilton Madison House, and the American Institute of Architects of New York. The Clara Fox Award tribute video on Carol’s incredible achievements can be viewed here.
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News from Washington | By Brittany Webb
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TIME RUNNING OUT
On February 11, the National Housing Conference, the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco are co-hosting, "Federal Home Loan Banks: Shaping the Future of Affordable Housing and Community Investment," an in-person and online event exploring the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks) and their mission to provide liquidity to member financial institutions to support housing and community investment.
Join industry leaders as they look at how these cooperatives, as private sector entities, serve their liquidity mission and how that encourages affordable housing finance in America while preserving local, regional, and community-based banking.
Sessions will explore the structure and benefits of the liquidity, the Affordable Housing Program, case studies, and opportunities for improving the program to meet evolving housing challenges. As the FHLBank System approaches its 100th anniversary, participants will also reflect on its historical contributions and discuss strategies for modernizing the system to support future housing finance demands.
There are no fees associated with this event, but space is limited!
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Housing agenda under Trump administration begins to take shape
President Trump issued a memorandum in the first days of his second term directing
all heads of executive agencies to implement emergency price relief by lowering the cost of housing, expanding housing supply, and eliminating counterproductive requirements that raise the costs of home appliances. The document takes a critical approach to previous policy decisions, attributing high housing costs to an “unlawful regulatory mandate” for both the energy and housing industries. While the memorandum does not offer specifics as to how such price relief and deregulation should be implemented, it signals housing costs as a priority for the new administration. According to the latest data from Freddie Mac, mortgage rates averaged above 7% for the first time since May.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released a statement praising the prioritization of lowering housing stating, “President Trump understands that America is facing a housing affordability crisis and the only way out of this crisis is to remove barriers like unnecessary and costly regulations that are raising housing costs and preventing builders from building more attainable, affordable housing.” They note a 10-point housing plan to help achieve lower housing costs.
Homebuilders have simultaneously expressed concerns about President Trump’s initial batch of executive actions, in particular his stated intention to implement sweeping tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico.
“I think it’s pretty well understood that raising the cost of materials that home builders are using to build homes is going to end up making it harder to build homes and make it more expensive for people to be able to buy those homes,” said Lisa Sturtevant, Chief Economist for Bright MLS.
On Capitol Hill, new Chair of the Senate Banking Committee Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has indicated that the committee will focus heavily on targeting excessive regulatory measures in order to lower housing costs for the public. Under Scott, the Banking Committee has also voted to advance President Trump’s nominee for HUD secretary, Scott Turner.
“My goal for this Congress is simple: make America work for Americans,” Chairman Scott said. “Over the last two years, we’ve led comprehensive solutions to serious challenges Americans face – from addressing our failed federal housing policies to increasing access to capital to bolstering our economic national security – and we can build on this success.”
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Treasury reports on rising homeowners insurance costs
A new report from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) shows that the costs of homeowners insurance is increasing significantly in light of worsening climate-related extreme weather events, with average homeowners insurance premiums per policy increasing 8.7% faster than the national rate of inflation. According to a press release, the report is based on a comprehensive analysis of data from over 330 insurers on more than 246 million homeowners insurance policies across the United States from 2018 to 2022.
Moreover, residents in communities with the highest expected annual losses due to climate-related hazards are paying 82% more in insurance premiums than their less affected counterparts. These impacted areas also have 80% higher nonrenewal rates, marking a decline in insurance availability. The issue is worsened by the reality that insurance providers are increasingly unable to operate in areas where high losses are expected, as providers are paying significantly more in claims within high-risk locales.
The report comes as wildfires rage across Los Angeles, where the homeowners insurance industry is under great strain and thousands of residents have now been dropped by their insurers amidst the trauma of losing homes.
“Treasury’s analysis comes at a time of devastating tragedy, loss of life, and destruction from the wildfires in the Los Angeles area,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen. “While it’s far from clear what the exact financial costs of this disaster will be, it is a stark reminder of the impacts of the growing magnitude of natural disasters on the U.S. economy.”
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CDFI Fund opens 2025 application round
The Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund opened the 2025 fiscal year application round for the CDFI Program and the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program. These programs award CDFIs that provide financial services to low-income communities which lack key financial resources at a reduced cost.
In 2025, the CDFI plans to award approximately $348 million to CDFIs through the CDFI and NACA programs, including roughly $100 million for Housing Production-Financial Assistance awards, pending final Congressional appropriations.
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announce 2024 multifamily production volumes
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) announced their multifamily production volumes for 2024, totaling at $55 billion and $66 billion, respectively. For Freddie Mac, the volume amount marks a notable 34% increase over 2023, including $1 billion in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit investments that exceeded the Enterprises’ Duty to Serve requirements. Both GSEs touted these numbers as strong signals that they are broadly succeeding in their goals of collaborating with their lender partners to provide liquidity and stability to multifamily market sectors.
“In 2024, we not only met but exceeded our mission during a challenging year that made a tangible impact on countless lives,” said Kevin Palmer, head of multifamily for Freddie Mac. This new batch of data denotes that Freddie Mac will achieve its multifamily affordable housing goals for 2024 as set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. A total of 65% of Freddie Mac’s 2024 production volume qualified as “mission-driven affordable housing,” which exceeds the FHFA’s 2024 goals by 15%.
Fannie Mae provided liquidity across a number of sectors in 2024, including more than $6.3 billion in Multifamily Affordable Housing, $4.7 billion in small loans, and $1.3 billion in Manufactured Housing. Fannie Mae also saw an impressive 101% gain in its Green Financing loan production, jumping from $7.5 billion in 2023 to $15.1 billion in 2024.
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HUD announces CoC funding
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced $3.6 billion in funding through HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program to support nearly 7,000 homelessness assistance projects nationwide. This includes housing, supportive services, and planning initiatives. “The historic awards we are announcing today will expand community capacity to assist more people in obtaining the safety and stability of a home, along with ensuring that providers have the support that they need,” said Marion McFadden, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development.
The funding prioritizes vulnerable groups, such as youth and survivors of domestic violence, with $189 million for expiring the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program and $62 million for rapid rehousing to assist survivors of domestic violence. HUD also introduced streamlined applications and cost-of-living adjustments to enhance efficiency and service delivery. This announcement is a part of a broader strategy which has committed nearly $15 billion to homelessness assistance since 2021.
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Multifamily housing construction continues to lag
There are currently 641,000 single-family housing units under construction and 790,000 multifamily units under construction according to recent analysis from the Calculated Risk blog. Single-family numbers are slightly up from November but 189,000 below the May 2022 pandemic peak when supply chain issues eased. Multifamily construction is down significantly from the July 2023 peak of 1,021,000, a notable decline that is expected to continue into 2025. Combined, 1.431 million housing units are under construction, a notable increase from the 1.1–1.2 million units under construction annually pre-pandemic, but 280,000 below the October 2022 all-time high of 1.711 million.
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Renew your NHC membership today! | |
Watch this video to learn more about how NHC represents diverse leaders across the housing spectrum, including lenders, homebuilders, affordable housing advocates, real estate professionals, housing development corporations, housing finance agencies, and more, to address today's pressing housing issues. | |
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Your involvement is essential to addressing today’s housing challenges, and NHC relies on active members to maximize our impact and remain a leader in tackling today’s housing issues.
NHC membership offers exclusive networking opportunities, access to our weekly Member Brief, and other key housing resources such as our Housing Resource Center, Paycheck to Paycheck database, and Employer Assisted Housing Toolkit. We look forward to working with you to address America's housing challenges.
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An article from Bloomberg City Lab discusses the recent U.S. Conference of Mayors’ annual meeting, where local leaders emphasized affordable housing as their top priority, urging the federal government to simplify access to funding and reduce red tape, rather than solely increasing budgets. Mayors noted that streamlined processes could empower local governments to create more housing units and expressed cautious optimism about collaborating with HUD Secretary Nominee Scott Turner to revisit programs like Opportunity Zones to better serve low-income communities. Alongside housing, immigration policy also emerged as a key concern with mayors warning that the Administration’s immigration and border policies could exacerbate housing shortages, disrupt economies, and harm immigrant communities vital to local industries.
CNN analyzes in an article President Trump’s recent executive action to reduce housing costs by cutting federal regulations. It notes that experts argue that housing affordability is driven by broader issues, including a severe housing shortage, elevated interest rates, and rising closing costs. While regulatory changes might offer some relief, many are controlled by local governments and may not offset the economic impact of Trump’s proposed tariffs on Canadian lumber or mass deportations, both of which could increase construction costs. Additionally, with interest rates at 7.04%, borrowing costs remain a significant barrier. Critics highlight the need for a more comprehensive approach, addressing labor shortages, material costs, and demand-supply imbalances, rather than focusing solely on federal regulations.
NPR’s Planet Money published an article about economist Nancy Wallace, describing how she used her own experience of surviving a devastating fire to fuel her research on financial risks associated with wildfires, as well as mitigative strategies. Surprisingly, a study performed by Wallace and her colleagues determined that California property values increased in the aftermath of fires due to newer construction materials and updated building codes. Conversely, home insurance availability has weakened in California due to government regulations requiring insurers to keep premiums artificially low and preventing them from employing forward-looking risk models. Wallace concludes that more robust, comprehensive risk models are necessary in order to keep premiums high and encourage homeowners to take proper precautions to protect their homes.
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Monday, January 27
Membership Monday | National REIA, 2-3 pm ET
Independent Mortgage Banking Conference | Mortgage Bankers Association, January 27 – January 29
PHA Operations for Executive Leaders | NAHRO, January 27 – January 30
Tuesday, January 28
NMHC Apartment Strategies Outlook Conference
Strategic Planning for HECM: Insights for Housing Counseling Workplan, Part One | NCRC, 2-3:30 pm ET
Nuts and Bolts of Service Coordination | NAHRO, January 28 – January 30
Wednesday, January 29
2025 USVI Housing Ecosystem Development In-Person Workshop | Enterprise, 9 am ET
Housing as a Pathway to Justice: Introducing Our National Toolkit | Enterprise, 1-2:15 pm ET
From Insights to Action: Data-Informed Strategy in Housing and Community Development | NHC, 1:30-3 pm ET
2025 Annual Meeting | AHTCC, January 29 – January 30
Thursday, January 30
Regional Connect: Northwest Sponsored by Rate | NAHREP
Housing Update from Washington| NAHRO, 1:30-2 pm ET
Friday, January 31
No events listed.
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The National Housing Conference is a diverse continuum of affordable housing stakeholders that convene and collaborate through dialogue, advocacy, research, and education, to develop equitable solutions that serve our common interest. | |
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