Budget Threatens 'Affordable' Goal

The Bloomberg administration is proposing to cut $285 million from its housing department's capital budget, raising questions over whether the city will be able to meet the goals of a signature program to create or preserve 165,000 "affordable" units by 2014.

The initiative has been one of the more ambitious and costly of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's tenure. If the cut is finalized, the overall cost would be reduced to about $8.2 billion from $8.5 billion.

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Rent or Buy, a Matter of Lifestyle

Real estate agents across the country are aggressively making the case that now is a good time to buy a house. Mortgage rates are near record lows and will probably rise in coming years. Home prices may not be done falling, but they probably don’t have much further to go in most places either. Rents, on the other hand, seem set to increase, thanks to low vacancy rates.

“Renters beware,” warned a newsletter that I recently received from a real estate agents’ group.
Individually, each of these points is unobjectionable. But it’s important to remember the source. Real estate agents, like mortgage brokers and home builders, have a big financial stake in persuading people to buy homes. That’s why many agents are always pushing home buying, whatever the rationale of the moment happens to be. [Continue Reading]

Federal Retreat on Bigger Loans Rattles Housing

MONTEREY, Calif. — By summer’s end, buyers and sellers in some of the country’s most upscale housing markets are slated to lose one their biggest benefactors: the deep pockets of the federal government. In this seaside community of pricey homes, the dread of yet another housing shock is already spreading. [ Read More]

Life In A Landmark: Pioneering Public Housing Site Shows Its Age

First-generation New Yorkers are more likely to reside in rent-regulated housing than the rest of us. So as Albany weighs weakening or strengthening rent rules, some immigrants are raising their voices.

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