Atlanta Regional Housing

According to Equity Depot, 20-county metro Atlanta region had 136,450 foreclosure filings in 2009, a 47% increase over the 2008 total of 92,533.

In January 2010, 9,434 filings were made, down from 9,875 in January 2009. According to an article in CNNMoney.com, more than 450,000 families in a foreclosure prevention program are at risk.

Hundreds of thousands of troubled homeowners who are making lower mortgage payments on a trial basis are at risk of being kicked out of President Obama's foreclosure-prevention program. MORE

Many legislative items in the Georgia General Assembly will focus on housing, transportation and other related issues. Here's what we're watching:

SB 57 – Georgia Fair Lending Act; definitions; provide for limitations on homeloans; fees for filing documents (Hamrick). MORE AJC 2/2/10

HB 972 – Foreclosure; delivery of notice; change of time; provisions (Mitchell)

Hearing: Meeting of the Jacobs Subcommittee of the House Judiciary (Civil) Committee; Monday, February 1, 2010, at 1:00 p.m.; State Capitol, Room 132

Many thanks to planners, presenters and attendees for your support of the Atlanta Regional Housing Forum. Our Forum on December 2 was the last of 2009. We will reconvene in March 2010. The planning committee is developing the next Forum. Details soon!

Visit the Forum main page for more details.

Surviving the Recession - Strategies for financing community and economic development in today's historic downturn. February 3, 2010, 12:30- 2:00 (Brown Bag Lunch). Centergy Building at Technology Square
75 5th Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30308, Hodges Connections Room, Third Floor MORE

Creating a Lifelong Community - Re-Imagining the Way We Live Together: A Lifelong Communities Design Charrette - presented by The Greater Atlanta HBA 50+ Housing Council. Thursday, February 4, 2010; Loudermilk Center, Atlanta, GA. MORE

The data available on housing affordability and transportation costs imposed on the region’s households indicate that the cost of shelter only presents half the picture for affordability in the region. While living great distances from employment centers and incurring long and costly commutes in exchange for less expensive housing prices has traditionally been the trend for Atlanta, in the face of rising energy costs and amplified traffic congestion this pattern is proving unsustainable and unaffordable. MORE

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is generally defined as more compact development containing a mix of uses such as housing, jobs, shops and restaurants within a comfortable walking distance of transit stations (typically a half mile).

TOD is not just development near transit; a successful TOD should also... MORE

450,000 at risk in foreclosure-prevention program; CNNMoney.com; 1/23/10.

FHA on track for busiest year as it backs 23% of mortgages; USA Today, September 1, 2009; By Stephanie Armour.

Fewer Delinquent Mortgage Borrowers Are Catching Up; Wall Street Journal; August 24, 2009; By James R. Hagerty.

Bill would revamp property tax setup; Ernie Suggs, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; 2/2/10.

Why you're paying too much in property taxes - Investigative Series; D.L. Bennett, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; 12/7/2009.

Regional Resilience in the Face of Foreclosures: Evidence from Six Metropolitan Areas; Todd Swanstrom, University of Missouri-St. Louis; Karen Chapple, University of California, Berkeley; Dan Immergluck, Georgia Institute of Technology for University of California-Berkley and the Macarthur Foundation (2009).

State of the Nation's Housing; Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University (2009).

Analysis of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA); National Housing Conference (NHC); Executive summary is available as well as an extended analysis. (2009)

Each quarter, we will publish its newsletter, "The Housing Report," touching on a variety of topics - from foreclosure to recovery of the economy and the housing industry. To be sure you receive notice of these publications, be sure to sign-up below.

Q1 Issue - June 2009
Q3 Issue - September 2009
Q4 Issue - December 2009

Former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros praised the City of Austin’s new SMART program, a new policy initiative designed to stimulate production of housing for low- and moderate—income families.

The S.M.A.R.T. HousingTM (Safe, Mixed-income, Accessible, Reasonably-priced, Transit-oriented) policy initiative is designed to stimulate the production of affordable housing for low and moderate income residents of Austin. S.M.A.R.T. HousingTM meets the City’s Green Building standards and is located in neighborhoods throughout the City of Austin.

Through the S.M.A.R.T. HousingTM policy, the City of Austin provides fee waivers and S.M.A.R.T. HousingTM development review, typically faster than conventional review. This initiative applies to new single-family, multi-family and infill development. MORE

GeorgiaHousingSearch.org - Sponsored by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, this site provides detailed information about rental properties and helps people find housing to best fit their needs. The service can be accessed at no cost online 24 hours a day or through a toll-free, bilingual call center at 1-877-428-8844, available M-F, 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Atlanta Development Authority (ADA) has recently published a comprehensive affordable housing brochure that provides detailed information about down payment assistance programs. Programs covered include those offered by ADA, the City of Atlanta Bureau of Housing and the BeltLine. Visit www.atlantada.com for a free copy of the informative publication.