Affordable housing

A $300 rent hike threw Noemi Hernandez' finances into a tizzy in 2016, forcing the part-time cashier to apply for food stamps and curtail spending on other things. A year later, her rent went up another $160.

The House Financial Services Committee chairman is calling out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's regulator for authorizing payments to two housing trust funds while the mortgage giants have their own financial struggles.

With manufactured housing growth still sluggish, industry advocates want the Department of Housing and Urban Development rules to be more in line with current building trends.

Freddie Mac posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $3.3 billion and will request $312 million from the Treasury after recent tax reform legislation forced it to write down the value of deferred tax assets.

Despite a legislative push by some senators and other stakeholders to jump-start housing finance reform, efforts to form consensus over a bill once again are stuck in neutral.

Vermont’s first sustainability bond sale yielded strong demand to fund new affordable housing throughout the Green Mountain State, according to Gov. Phil Scott.

Supporters of an unreleased bill to revamp the housing finance system say the plan strikes a middle ground that can gain support from both sides of the aisle.

Craig Phillips, a top aide to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, said his department "broadly" agrees with the FHFA plan, which would return Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the private market and provide them an explicit government guarantee.

A shortage of Orlando houses on the market — particularly in affordable price ranges — is a concern for the region's leading industry group.

Though multifamily housing starts are projected to slightly moderate this year and next, production levels are expected to remain in a steady range considered normal, according to the National Association of Home Builders.