Developers of LIHTC projects have concerns about the impact of potential national tax reform on the financing model of LIHTC deals. The Terwilliger Center in DC examines the impact LIHTC has had on meeting housing needs, and at the volume of multi-family housing created by this housing tax incentive. The article also highlights the LEED Platinum LIHTC development adjacent to the Temple University SEPTA station.
A Tax Credit Turns 30
12/13/2016, Stockton Williams
The low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) has helped house millions, and it remains a vital driver of development. The 30-year track record of the LIHTC offers compelling evidence that affordable housing is good business, a stable asset class, and a strong driver of economic activity and neighborhood improvement.
Among the myriad ways the U.S. Internal Revenue Code affects commercial real estate is through a federal tax incentive that has become the most important tool to develop and rehabilitate affordable housing: the LIHTC. Since 1986, it has attracted enough private equity to produce nearly 3 million apartments for working-class families, seniors, and formerly homeless individuals. When one looks back over a generation of housing tax credit activity, several themes of importance to the entire real estate industry emerge:
Affordable housing can be a smart real estate investment. A 2015 survey of the housing credit throughout its history by New York City–based professional services firm CohnReznick found that equity investors have realized 98 percent of their anticipated federal tax credits (dollar-for-dollar reductions in federal income taxes owed) through calendar year 2014. The report also noted that yields on housing credit fund investments have maintained a healthy premium over yields on ten-year Treasuries, “with an approximate 400-basis-point buffer since 2011.”
Affordable housing can be a viable development opportunity. Contrary to popular perception, most LIHTC-supported and other affordable developments are delivered by for-profit firms. According to a 2016 paper from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, for-profit companies among the largest 50 developers were responsible for 79 percent of all affordable housing starts between 2009 and 2014. Nonprofit developers also are important players in LIHTC-supported development. Various studies have shown that both for-profit and nonprofit sponsors execute LIHTC-supported developments of similarly high quality and financial performance.
Affordable housing is a significant driver of overall multifamily construction activity. The housing tax credit drives the creation of roughly 50,000 new units per year—a significant share of overall multifamily development activity even during the current boom in new apartment construction. The LIHTC also supports the rehabilitation of another 50,000 exisiting units. The Washington, D.C.–based National Association of Home Builders estimates that the LIHTC annually generates 95,700 jobs; $3.5 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue; and $9.1 billion in wage and business income.
Affordable housing development can strengthen struggling areas. Housing credit properties are found in many types of neighborhoods and usually—if not always—provide higher-quality housing than their residents could otherwise afford or access. A working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that LIHTC-supported development delivers significant impact at the community level as well: each LIHTC-supported development in a low-income area generates aggregate benefit in the neighborhood of $116 million, increasing surrounding home prices by 6.5 percent (which boosts the local tax base) and lowering crime rates.