Apartment Rental News Weekly Roundup: NAA and NMHC News

April 10th, 2009 by Matt DiChiara| Posted in Weekly News Update | No Comments »

From this month’s issue of units magazine’s Political Insider section, we learn that President Obama’s economic stimulus act includes significant provisions that will benefit the apartment industry.

NAA/NMHC Secure LIHTC Grant Provisions

The NAA/NMHC successfully secured two Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) provisions, the first of which allocates $2 billion for direct equity grants to states that will help states complete stalled low income housing projects.

Secondly, states will be allowed to exchange 40 percent of 2009 and unused 2008 LIHTC allocations for cash grants from the Treasury Department at 85 cents on the dollar.

NMHC Ranks Top 50 Apartment Owners and Managers

On April 2nd, The NMHC released its annual rank of top apartment owners and managers, which bore witness to some notable changes due chiefly to nationwide economic troubles.

In a release from last Thursday, NMHC President Doug Bibby expressed cautious optimism, citing the changing lifestyles and demographic trends as well as the fact that there were fewer changes in the rankings than were expected.

The only major trend in this year’s rankings was the decrease in the amount of REITs on the list, which dropped from a high of 14 in 2005 to 11 this year; Mark Obrinsky, NHMC head economist explained the trend explaining that the credit crunch has forced REITs to sell properties in order to pay down debts.