NY sees affordable bond shortage

The New York State Housing Finance Agency expects to run out of its 2007 tax-exempt bonds within the next few weeks, and it is unclear whether the agency will be able to secure more bonds from the state, as it has in previous years when funding came up short. New York’s supply of federally authorized bonds, which are privately issued with low interest rates and used to finance affordable housing, have been used up early this year as more developers were required to build affordable housing as part of their market-rate projects. “A lot of it has to do with more and more demand for affordable housing,” said Emily Youssouf, president of the New York City Housing Development Corporation. “Add to that the issue that the cost of construction is also increasing, and you have extreme pressure on the volume cap.” more [NYO]