Pattern for Progress 3rd annual housing conference
When a conference on housing involves lots of discussion of promoting relief for problem mortgages and a “daunting” influx of funding to weatherize houses, you can assume there is trouble in housing and in the broader economy, and such was the case at the Pattern for Progress Housing the Hudson Valley Conference.
But conference attendees weren’t just doom-saying. They discussed strategies to help the housing market reemerge and heard projections of trends that might shape planning for housing in coming decades. Reinvigorating housing in cities, for example, was cited as a promising strategy particularly for meeting the needs of a wave of baby boomer senior citizens who seek to stay in the Hudson Valley, but won’t need large homes.
The third annual conference at Marist College June 12 was attended by Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus among about 200 others who heard from an array of experts, including state Housing and Community Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen on challenges state officials face in staving off foreclosures and helping set up a framework for consumers and lending institutions to rework problematic mortgages.
VanAmerongen highlighted data learned from the fact-finding tours state officials are taking with concern for the housing market.
She noted that the foreclosure problems are significant, but vary by region, and said the state is setting up frameworks to get people to mandatory settlement conferences, and into discussions with lenders. She said there is a need for education to homeowners, lenders and even to train judges in the programs that are being interpreted and administered differently in different areas of the state. “We want to make sure judges have an understanding of how the program is supposed to work,” she said, especially involving restructuring options consumers have with mortgages.
VanAmerongen said, “Affordability of course is an issue that is identified,” and said that since much of the action in building homes in the Hudson Valley involves second homes, there is a problem finding resources for affordable housing. She also cited a NIMBY syndrome for communities in this region and statewide, who equate affordable housing with children who will need to be schooled, thus raising already burdensome property taxes.
The state has funded 2,700 affordable housing units in the nine counties of the Hudson Valley since 2007, but VanAmerongen was among several speakers at the conference who noted that many affordable housing projects were funded using financial institutions which received tax credits to invest in them. “Well, guess what?” she said, “You need to have profits to make a tax credit program attractive to you.” Thus, she said few corporations are providing any funding for affordable housing.
Add Comment
Popular
News by Topic
- Advertising
- Architecture
- Arts
- Aviation
- Banking
- Colleges & Universities
- Construction
- Credit Unions
- Economic Development
- Education
- Golf
- Green
- Health Care
- Hospitality
- Hospitals
- Insurance
- Law
- Leisure
- Marketing
- Nonprofits
- Real Estate
- Restaurants & Food
- Retail
- Sales
- Schools
- Small Business
- Taxes
- Tourism
- Transportation
- Travel
0 Comments