With deep reductions in prices, months of free maintainance, and, in one development, a new flat screen tv tossed in, why are so many units classified as affordable still not moving here in NYC? The Times looks at this problem and comes up with familiar reasons banks are still not lending, and the definition of affordable is not realistic for many buyers. Housing advocates point to the use of the area median income of over $76K, which includes the city, along with Long Island, Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties, in the determination of affordable income limits, which makes most of these projects too much money for too many people in the neighborhoods where these developments are located. A better way to figure it, says housing advocate Javier Valdez, located in Bushwick, would be to figure the limits by neighborhood. The median income in Bushwick is $32,328. In response to this, several projects, including Atlantic Terrace, in Fort Greene, have arranged funding and lowered their limits to accommodate more buyers, and now have 4,881 applicants in a lottery for 59 apartments. Obviously, the demand is there, as is the supply. The balancing act to please all parties will be the key to fulfilling the city’s goals of creating 165,000 units of affordable housing by 2014.
City’s Affordable Housing Program Having Trouble Finding Buyers [NYTimes]