Stalled housing may stay that way

Turning Stalled Projects Into Moderate-Income Housing
By Jennifer 8. Lee, NY Times

City and state officials are trying to turn half-filled and half-finished developments into moderate income housing, but the programs are proving difficult to create.

With budgets tighter than ever, there are few financial incentives to entice developers and lenders.

There are the practical challenges of selling apartments to buyers for far less than what their neighbors paid.

One plan, still in its early stages, would offering homebuyers state-financed mortgages for units in buildings where some have already been sold to market-rate buyers. Another program would set aside $5 million for $40,000 grants to 125 homebuyers. And Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries introduced legislation on Tuesday to help developers refinance troubled loans worth up to $150 million in exchange for turning some of their units into moderate-income housing. [NYT]