Tag: housing

Dozens of Virginia Housing Projects to be Supported by $93 Million in Loans

The Center Square

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development is distributing more than $93 million in housing loans to support housing projects across the commonwealth that are estimated to create nearly 4,000 units for low-income and extremely low-income households, according to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office. 

The $93 million in Affordable and Special Needs Housing loans administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development will support 57 projects in various parts of the state. In total, the projects are estimated to create 3,936 units for low-income and extremely low-income households, including 298 permanent supportive housing units, 3,825 rental units and 111 units for homeownership opportunities, according to the governor’s office. 

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Tennessee One of the Top Inbound States for Movers, Study Shows

Kaitlin Housler

Tennessee ranked fourth in the nation regarding inbound moves to the state, according to recent data compiled by the Allied Magnet States Report. The report tracks migration patterns in the U.S. and is published annually by Allied Van Lines, an American moving company.

The top relocation destination states in 2022 were Arizona, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida. The top states that saw people move away throughout the year were Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, and New Jersey.

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Part of Wisconsin Opioid Settlement to Fund Housing Program

Bradley Vasoli

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) is preparing to allocate a large fraction of opioid settlement money toward a new housing program for those in recovery.

In February 2021, an assemblage of 47 states including Wisconsin announced an agreement with the consulting firm McKinsey & Company would yield a total of $573 million for the jurisdictions in recompense for the corporation’s alleged role in the opioid epidemic. Prior to the settlement, state Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) and prosecutors across the country undertook an investigation that led to allegations that McKinsey devised promotions for high-strength pain medications resulting in widespread, improper use. 

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Economists: Buying a Home May Not Get Any Cheaper Even If the Economy Tanks

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Despite expecting a recession and reduced inflation that would ordinarily put downward pressure on prices in 2023, a critical shortage of housing means prices are unlikely to change much, two economists told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The median sales price for existing homes increased 6.6% in October compared to the same month in 2021, jumping to $379,100, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), primarily due to demand outstripping supply, according to both Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real estate research at the NAR, and E.J. Antoni, economist at the Heritage Foundation. The inventory of unsold existing homes fell to 1.22 million in October, down 10,000 from September 2022, and less than the 1.39 million unsold existing homes in December 2019, according to the National Association of Realtors.

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Study: Ohio Outside of Capital Area Is Losing Population

Bradley Vasoli

A new study released this week by a Columbus-based nonprofit observed that, with the exception of Ohio’s capital city and its surrounding suburbs, the Buckeye State is losing population.

The paper by the Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC), titled “Ohio + Columbus: A Tale of Two States,” posits that “much of Ohio functions like a legacy state rather than a rapidly growing place.” In other words, many places in the state experienced manufacturing booms a century ago but have seen industrial activity quickly decline in recent decades. 

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DeWine Calls for Expansion of Medicaid, Other Services for Ohio Families

Bradley Vasoli

Governor Mike DeWine (R) on Friday announced a plan to expand a number of social services in Ohio, including an increase in eligibility for Medicaid for pregnant women and children whose families make up to three times the federal poverty level.

The policy enlarges upon his Bold Beginning Initiative, which has already spent about $1 billion on services to expectant families. The broadening of Medicaid would make the program available to single expectant mothers earning up to $54,930 annually and to families of three earning as much as $69,090 per year. Legislative approval would need to occur for this measure to take effect.

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Unvaxxed Cancer Patients Were Excluded from Rochester Treatment Housing During COVID

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A Minnesota nurse and mother fighting breast cancer says she has been denied free housing by the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge because of her decision not to get the COVID vaccine.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that the organization recently changed its policy to allow unvaccinated patients without informing her.

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Ohio’s Largest City Plans to Spend $200 Million on Housing, If Voters Approve

The Center Square

Ohio’s largest city wants to spend $200 million on affordable housing if voters approve borrowing a total of $1.5 billion in November.

Columbus mayor Andrew Ginther had previously said the city has a goal of combining $1 billion in public and private funds to meet housing needs in the region, calling housing a regional problem.

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Pennsylvania Faces High Housing Prices Unless ‘Record-Level Building’ Happens

The Center Square

Pennsylvania’s struggle to build more housing, be it affordable or market-rate, will continue unless dramatic change happens within city, county, and state governments.

Such was the takeaway from a House Urban Affairs Committee hearing focused on northeastern Pennsylvania on Wednesday.

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Connecticut Renters Struggle to Find Affordable Housing

The Center Square

Renters in Connecticut are short on options with prices soaring.

“Currently, Connecticut has a shortage of 85,000 units of affordable housing for those families that earn an income of 80% or below the AMI,” Renée Dobos, CEO of Connecticut Housing Partners, told The Center Square. AMI is an acronym for area medium income.

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Amazon Announces $10.6 Million Investment to Create Affordable Housing in Nashville

Kaitlin Housler

Amazon will invest $10.6 million to help build and renovate more than 130 affordable homes in Nashville, the company announced Wednesday. Amazon is working in partnership with the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) and supporting the social work of the local nonprofit CrossBridge Inc.

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Maury County Mayoral Candidate David Baker Comments on Maintaining Integrity and Way of Life as County Grows

Julie Carr

Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Independent Maury County Mayoral candidate David Baker in studio to discuss his experience and maintaining the liberty and freedom established by Andy Ogles.

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Zoning Legislation Stirs Controversy in Connecticut

Bradley Vasoli

Democrats in Connecticut’s state House of Representatives are offering legislation they say will facilitate affordable housing and “racial justice,” though opponents of the measures say they will merely hamper local control of development.

One bill would mandate that municipalities permit housing containing a minimum of 15 dwelling units per acre within half-mile radiuses of rail stations. At least 10 percent of the units in such areas would be required to meet the state’s definition of affordable housing, i.e. that it costs an occupant no more than one third of his or her annual income. 

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Fox Contributor and Financial Guru Liz Peek Sees Saudi Arabia Silver Lining as Gas and Oil Reach Record Highs

Julie Carr
Liz Peek, Fox News contributor

Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Fox News contributor and financial expert Liz Peek to the newsmaker line to give her take on the current financial outlook for Americans and the world.

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Governor Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development Announce $28.5 Million in Grants for 62 Counties

Kaitlin Housler

On Monday in a press release, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe announced that they recently approved $28.5 million in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), which will assist communities with infrastructure improvements, housing rehabilitations and health and safety initiatives.

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Donated Frequent Flyer Miles Provide 40,000 Flights for Afghan Refugees

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Frequent flyer miles donated over a two-month period will provide around 40,000 flights for Afghan refugees, the Associated Press reported.

The Biden administration is considering doubling the number of miles available to refugees, and around 3,200 flights already covered by the donated miles have allowed Afghan refugees to resettle in communities around the U.S. from temporary housing at military bases, according to the AP. Miles4Migrants organized the donations, and the group has provided aid to refugees using donated airline miles and credit card points since 2016.

“Government resources are limited, and we knew that the American people wanted to support Afghans who were arriving and help them find safe homes,” Miles4Migrants Co-Founder Andy Freedman said, the AP reported. “That’s when we turned to the airlines.”

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Up to 50,000 Afghan Refugees Could Be Headed for Resettlement in the U.S., but Exactly Where Is Still to Be Determined

Admin

It’s unclear how many Afghan refugees arrived in the U.S. recently, though they will mostly stay at military bases as they undergo immigration proceedings, a senior Biden administration official said during a press call last week.

Around 20,000 Afghan refugees now stay at eight military bases across the continental U.S., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said on Wednesday. The Biden administration warned nine nonprofit organizations contracted with the State Department that work with refugees to prepare for up to 50,000 Afghans to arrive in the U.S. without visas and in need of resettlement, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

“After getting tested (for COVID-19) at the airport, American citizens and LPRs (legal permanent residents) can head to their onward destination — home — while others — everyone else heads to those military bases I mentioned before,” the senior official said during a press call on Aug. 24. “There, they receive a full medical screening, and they receive a variety of healthcare services and assistance in applying for things like work authorizations, before moving on to their next destination.”

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‘Squad’ Members Earned Tens of Thousands as Landlords, Even as They Supported Eviction Moratorium

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Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib

Far-left Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who have both been vocal critics of landlords and supportive of the eviction moratorium that prevents them from collecting rent indefinitely, made tens of thousands of dollars themselves collecting rent last year, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

Tlaib disclosed in a recent financial statement that she made between $15,000 and $50,000 from rent out of a property she owns in Detroit, even after she had recently criticized “landlords and bill collectors” and said that Americans needed to be protected from them “in the midst of a pandemic.” Pressley made roughly $15,000 from 2019 to 2020 off a property she owns in Boston. Pressley has denounced landlords for trying to collect rent during the pandemic, claiming it to be “literally a matter of life and death.”

Both congresswomen, along with others in the so-called “squad” and other congressional Democrats, were supportive of extending the eviction moratorium that has forbidden landlords across the nation from collecting rent, ostensibly to provide financial relief to Americans who cannot pay their rent due to losing their jobs to lockdown orders. The Biden Administration extended the eviction moratorium through October, after the original moratorium implemented last September by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was set to expire earlier this year.

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Denver Spends More on Homeless Than Schools and Police

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Denver spent twice as much money on its homeless population than it did on its students and police, a Common Sense Institute August report showed.

The city spent between $41,679 and $104,201 per person on its homeless population, compared to $19,202 per student in K-12 public schools in 2020, according to the report. In total it spent $481 million on healthcare, housing and other services for homeless people, over $100 million more than the Department of Public Safety’s budget.

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Lumber Demand Drives Georgia Home Prices Higher

The Center Square
A beige house in a suburban community during the day

A spike in lumber prices has compounded the state’s housing crisis, Georgia housing advocates said.

The price of lumber increased by 300% this spring compared with the same time last year, reports show. The building material reached an all-time high of $1,515 per thousand board feet on May 28.

The price of oriented strand board, which is most often used for sheathing, has increased by 400% since last spring.

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Minnesota House Approves Housing Bill

The Center Square

The Minnesota House approved the housing budget on a vote of 72-59.

The $125 million measure aims to fund a plethora of programs to create more affordable and stable housing.

Included in the budget is an off-ramp to the eviction moratorium.

Renters can only be evicted for “seriously endangering” another tenant or property or who is eligible for renter’s assistance but won’t apply.

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Wall Street Firm Blackstone Invests $6 Billion in Single-Family Homes

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"For Rent" sign in window of building

Investment firm Blackstone Group acquired 17,000 single-family rental homes on Tuesday in a deal worth $6 billion.

Blackstone, an asset management firm that focuses on alternative investments, acquired Home Partners of America (HPA) along with its 17,000 home inventory, the firm announced in a statement Tuesday. Blackstone will continue HPA’s business model of offering its tenants rent-to-own lease agreements, which allow the tenant to purchase the rental property after a certain amount of time.

“The fundamental premise of the HPA platform is to provide residents with the opportunity to live in their chosen home with the option to purchase it,” Blackstone’s Real Estate Senior Managing Director Jacob Werner said in the statement. “We intend to build on that goal and expand access to homes across the U.S.”

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Lumber Prices Reach Record Heights Causing Home Prices to Surge

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Man standing in front of miter saw

The price of lumber has skyrocketed to a record high and four times its usual price at this time of year, causing a spike in homebuilding costs, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Lumber futures, or the market price for wood, reached a record $1,500.50 per thousand board feet on Friday, according to The Wall Street Journal. A board foot, the unit used to measure lumber, equals one square foot of wood with one inch of thickness.

“Absent a significant increase in mortgage rates or a Covid resurgence, it is hard to imagine what could cause lumber demand to drop and prices to moderate in the foreseeable future,” Eric Cremers, the CEO of major lumber producer PotlatchDeltic, told the WSJ.

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Analysis: Jobs, Housing Show Recovery Continues

Admin

There were only two insightful reports on the economy this past week—for jobs and housing. Both show impressive gains.

Weekly initial unemployment claims fell by 56,000, to 787,000. They are down more than 100,000 from a month ago. There has also been a substantial decline in the insured unemployment rate to 5.7 percent from 8.7 percent a month ago. Also, the number of people receiving unemployment insurance payments fell to 8.4 million; it was 12.6 million a month ago.

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Minnesota’s State and National Dems Want to Cancel Rent and Mortgage Payments

Anthony Gockowski

  An executive order from Gov. Tim Walz bans evictions, foreclosures, and lease terminations for the duration of the state’s peacetime emergency, but one Democratic lawmaker wants to take things a step further. State Sen. Jeff Hayden (DFL-Minneapolis) recently called for a “rent and mortgage moratorium” in Minnesota, an idea…

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