(RECAP: The election has increased the likelihood of substantial tax reform being enacted in the coming years. This has renewed concerns about the potential effects—intended and unintended—of that reform on the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC). Simply place, if current efforts to enact corporate tax reform are successful, the resulting changes to the tax code will affect the amount of LIHTC equity that can be raised and in turn the number of affordable rental apartments that can be built or preserved. It’s vital to note that the overall effects of tax reform could be net positive or net negative, depending on the totality of the impact of the various changes.)

Powered by WPeMatico

(RECAP: Despite the fact, documented by the Congressional Budget Office, that Fannie and Freddie have contributed $63 billion to taxpayers (on top of repaying their 2008 advance), the sweep agreement not only takes away 100% of their net profits every quarter — but takes away a part of their remaining capital each year, reaching zero net worth in January 2018. Claims that the GSE’s lack of real capital is a “sideshow,” that a line of credit is just as excellent as real capital, — and that this does not have consequences — is directly rebutted by the GSEs’ regulator, the FHFA. In a February 2016 speech, FHFA Director Mel Watt said that the GSEs’ lack of capital is their “most serious risk.” He warned of real world consequences of a Treasury Department draw, including harm to investor confidence in the GSEs’ mortgage-backed securities and “a legislative response adopted in haste or without the kind of forethought it should be given.” This is not a sideshow. It is the main event.)

Powered by WPeMatico

(RECAP: Donald Trump’s unexpected victory in the November U.S. presidential election could prove a pivotal moment for the U.S. housing market, according to economist and Nobel laureate Robert Shiller. “I reckon we’re at a turning point. The numbers that we’re reporting today are October, before the Trump election, and everything looks different now,” he told Bloomberg Television’s. S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data released earlier on Tuesday showed that home prices in 20 U.S. cities maintained a steady pace of increases in October, rising by 5.1 percent, while a gauge of nationwide property values rose by the most since mid-2014. Bond yields and the dollar have risen since Trump secured the White House on Nov. 8 as investors bet he’ll follow through on campaign promises to cut taxes, ease regulations and spend billions of dollars on upgrading U.S. infrastructure.)

Powered by WPeMatico