Federal tax credits and other financing awarded in 2019 will build $623.7 million of affordable apartments in 29 North Carolina counties. The work is expected to support more than 10,000 jobs and generate $29.7 million in state and local tax revenue.

While National Home Ownership Month is primarily focused on helping buyers purchase new homes this June, a North Carolina program is celebrating 25 years of keeping existing homeowners in their homes. The NC Housing Finance Agency’s Urgent Repair Program (URP) has helped 15,000 low-income homeowners, including seniors, veterans and persons with disabilities, remain in their homes by providing emergency repairs and accessibility modifications that can help them age in place and stay out of costly institutional care.

The 64.8% home ownership rate at the end of 2018 represented a four-year high, a sign that more Americans are embracing the benefits of owning their own home. Not only is home ownership a key factor in building wealth, research shows that benefits extend to better education and health outcomes among homeowners and their families.

Finding safe, affordable housing can be a challenge for many North Carolinians, but even more so for persons with disabilities. The grand opening of M.S. Hayworth Court in Rocky Mount will provide more affordable housing options for this vulnerable population and create opportunities for individuals to live in independent and integrated settings.  

Finding safe, stable and affordable housing close to jobs, schools and other important amenities is a challenge for many North Carolina working families, particularly those with lower incomes. Families in Charlotte will soon find more affordable housing options, however, thanks to Platform Lofts, a future affordable apartment development that once complete will boast six buildings containing 198 affordable apartments.

Vulnerable, low-income households in need of home rehabilitation in Cleveland, Cumberland and Richmond counties will receive help thanks to the NC Housing Finance Agency’s Essential Single-Family Rehabilitation Loan Pool, which finances this assistance through local governments and nonprofit agencies. These repairs help veterans, seniors and persons with disabilities stay in their homes, saving on health care and long-term care costs. Communities also benefit: the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies recently reported that home rehabilitation investments boost surrounding property values.

Finding safe, stable and affordable housing in their communities is a challenge for many North Carolina seniors, particularly those with lower incomes. Mooresville and Kannapolis seniors will find the odds more in their favor, however, thanks to two soon-to-be-built affordable apartment developments for those aged 55 and over who are at or below 60 percent of the area median income.

North Carolina’s economy got a big boost in 2018, thanks to $2 billion in real estate activity financed by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. This represented an increase of 50 percent in just three years and nearly 100 percent since 2014.

More than 28,000 North Carolinians have held on to their homes during hard times thanks to a statewide effort that not only prevented foreclosures for those families, but preserved more than $5 billion in property value for communities statewide. The NC Foreclosure Prevention Fund, administered by the NC Housing Finance Agency and funded by the US Department of the Treasury’s Hardest Hit Fund, offers mortgage payment assistance to help North Carolina homeowners keep their homes while they recover from a temporary financial hardship.