EP#76 Nick Andersen | Affordable Housing Isn't What You Think

There are no shortages of false narratives about affordable housing. From the buildings to the renters who live in them, they rarely match the public narratives about them. And also: Just because a developer can get tax credits to build affordable housing doesn't make it easier, either — especially in higher-supplied markets where affordable rents are colliding with market-rate rents due to rent declines associated with the highest supply wave since the 1970s. So how do LIHTC affordable housing still make deals work today, even in markets where affordable housings' actual rents are well below allowable rents (set based on incomes)? Rental housing economist Jay Parsons welcomes in Nick Andersen of Dominium, one of the nation's biggest builders of affordable housing to talk myths versus realities — and share tips of the trade on how affordable housing development can still work today. Additionally, on the topic of affordability and mythbusting, Jay shares his two favorite charts from the just-released State of the Nation's Rental Housing report from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. And for the "In the News" segment in this episode, Jay breaks down the latest on the federal government's attempt to ban large investors from buying or building single-family rental homes.