EXCERPT: “If you live in a three bedroom apartment that rents for $1,400 per month or less, consider yourself lucky. That’s affordable housing, whether it’s subsidized or not, and it’s running out, according to a new report. The report from the Metropolitan Council, the metro’s regional planning agency, finds that the seven-county metro likely lost more affordable housing than it added since 2011, despite efforts to the contrary.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2WKNQgV

EXCERPT: “Minneapolis-based Dominium has opened The Legends of Spring Lake Park, a 194-unit affordable senior housing community in Spring Lake Park, Minn. Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, Aegon, Citi and Alliance Bank provided the loan.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2WDmuJB

EXCERPT: “Home buyers have historically earned more money, on average, than other households – but the income disparity between those groups at the national level is growing along with climbing home values. Because owning a home has a long-term impact on wealth, that disparity is another way to gauge wealth inequality. Households that bought a home in 2017 earn more than 62.7 percent of U.S. households overall, up from 59.8 percent in 2012. That means the threshold for being a typical home buyer moved more than 3.5 million households up the income distribution ladder.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2RpBJ56

EXCERPT: “Renting a typical studio apartment costs more each month than renting a typical one-bedroom home or apartment, according to a new HotPads® analysis. Across the United States, the median rent for a studio apartment is $1,385 per month. The median rent for a one-bedroom rental is $1,260 per month – about $125 per month less.” FULLSTORY: https://prn.to/2Wp3z5k

EXCERPT: “After two consecutive months of increases, existing-home sales declined in the month of December, according to the National Association of Realtors^®. None of the four major U.S. regions saw a gain in sales activity last month.” FULLSTORY: https://prn.to/2WfuuQL

EXCERPT: “Rehabilitation efforts have begun to convert the former New Ulm middle school building, recently renamed ‘Emerson Union,’ into apartments, after the closing of the financing last month on Dec. 21, according to a press release from the developer. Community Housing Development Corporation, a Minneapolis-based non-profit developer, has been working since August 2016 with New Ulm community leaders, elected officials and city staff on a plan to preserve the nearly century-old building and create housing for moderate-income households.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2W3kQkp

EXCERPT: “Because of the partial government shutdown, the Becker County Housing Authority had to scramble to make sure landlords got paid this month for renters in the subsidized Section 8 housing program. The Midwest Minnesota Community Development Corp. is contracted to run the county housing program, which receives federal Housing and Urban Development funding for the 74 families in its Section 8 housing voucher program. Unfortunately, HUD payments are estimates based on three-month-old data, and fell far short of the actual amount needed.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2W2Y9wF

EXCERPT: “The St. Paul public school district has closed on the sale of a former school property in St. Paul’s Highland Park Neighborhood to a developer that wants to build 155 senior housing units on the site.Minneapolis-based J.A. Wedum Foundation, working with development consultant Essential Decisions of Roseville, paid $1.7 million for a portion of the property at 848 Albion Ave., according to a certificate of real estate value made public last week.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2QSGgg6

EXCERPT: “They want more housing density, taller buildings, apartments on top of apartments, street-level retailers and tap rooms in residential areas, and public transit to connect it all. They dream of building better bike lanes. The e-scooter thing works for them. With a mantra of ‘upzoning,’ or ‘denser, taller, faster, more,’ they just might be YIMBYs. That’s YIMBY — as in ‘yes in my back yard’: advocates for urban redevelopment who prefer pedestrian-friendly streets and sidewalks over large parking lots.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2SUAnAY

EXCERPT: “With the partial government shutdown on the verge of becoming the longest in U.S. history, many housing advocates fear thousands of low-income Americans are at risk of being evicted. More than 1,000 government-backed housing contracts have already expired and potentially more will do so in the coming weeks. Since the shutdown began last month, approximately 1,150 federal rental assistance contracts have not been renewed due to funding lapses at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. These lapses impact Project-Based Rental Assistance agreements between private property owners and the federal government. These landlords are contracted to house low and very low-income residents. The property owner charges tenants modest rents and HUD kicks in subsidies to make up the difference. While the expired contracts so far only account for about 5 percent of HUD’s project-based contracts, it is causing concern that more of the 1.2 million low income families housed in these multifamily properties will be in danger of losing homes as the shutdown lingers.” FULLSTORY: https://n.pr/2QFYQrF