USDA Information and Data
Shawn Poynter / There Is More Work To Be Done
Shawn Poynter / There Is More Work To Be Done
USDA Rural Development Obligations FY 19 – March
The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) presents this month’s report on Fiscal Year 2019 USDA Rural Housing program obligations.
As of the end of March, USDA obligated 43,419 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $6.0 billion. This is about $2.4 billion less than obligation levels from the same time last year when there were 60,977 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling about $8.5 billion.
The agency has been operating under several continuing resolutions and a 35-day government shutdown since October 1, 2019.The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 was signed into law on February 15, 2019 which provided funding for the rest of the fiscal year
Single Family Housing Program Highlights
The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $5.7 billion (39,465 loan guarantees) down from $8 billion (54,826 loan guarantees) at the same time last year.
For the Section 502 Direct program, there have been about $290.5 million (1,848 loans), down from $404.7 million (2,742 loans) in loan obligations this time last year. Very low-income (VLI) loan obligations as a percentage of the total Section 502 Direct loan dollars was about 38 percent.
The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 881 loans representing about $5.1 million. Loan volume was down from this time last year (1,296 loans representing $7.7 million.) There were also about $7 million (1,165 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $12.5 million (2,019 grants) at the same time last year.
USDA’s Section 523 Self Help Housing Grant program funded 5 grants totaling $3.4 million which is up from last year at this time when funding totaled $1.5 million.
USDA has also funded 4 credit sales representing $304,961.
Multifamily Housing Program Highlights
USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 45 loan guarantees totaling $64.7 million, down from last year’s 55 loan guarantees ($74.7 million.) In the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program, there were 3 loans totaling $4.4 million obligated compared to 10 loans totaling $10.1 million this time last year. One MPR loan totaling $537,865 and no grants have been obligated compared to 14 loans ($13.7 million) and 1 grant ($15,400) this time last year.
In the Farm Labor Housing programs, 1 loan and 1 grant have been funded totaling $1.5 million and $700,000 respectively. Last year in March, there were no loans or grants.
There were also no Section 533 Housing Preservation grants obligated so far this year, compared to one loan last year totaling $21,417.
USDA obligated funds for 97,788 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $490.5 million. This compares to about 98,728 units ($497.7 million) obligated same time last year. There were also 3,135 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $13.5 million compared to 3,237 vouchers representing $13.6 million this time last year.
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* The Rural Housing Service (RHS) monthly obligation reports are produced by the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) 1025 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 606, Washington, DC 20005. The monthly figures derive from HAC tabulations of USDA –RHS 205c, d, and f report data. For questions or comments about the obligation reports, please contact Michael Feinberg at 202-842-8600 or michael@ruralhome.org.
