The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) presents this month’s report on Fiscal Year 2017 USDA Rural Housing program obligations.

USDA is operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) which provides funding through April 28, 2017 based on last year’s appropriation levels. Congress will need to pass a final appropriations bill or another CR to keep the government operating after the CR expires.

As of the end of February, USDA obligated 56,869 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $7.76 billion. This is about $1.19 billion more than obligation levels from the same time last year when there were 44,976 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling about $6.0 billion.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights

The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $7.37 billion (51,519 loan guarantees) up from $5.68 billion (41,025 loan guarantees) at the same time last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, there have been over $306.2 million (2,287 loans), also up from $283.2 million (2,163 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 38.3 percent, exceeding the 31.3 percent VLI obligation level at the same time last year.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 1,152 loans representing $6.2 million. As in the other single family housing programs, loan volume was up from this time last year (793 loans representing $4.4 million.) There were also $11.2 million (1,854 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $5.6 million (938 grants) at the same time last year.

So far this year, USDA obligated 4 Section 523 Self Help Housing Grants totaling $3.2 million and 4 contracts representing $1.5 million for a total of $4.7 million in Section 523 funding. There were also 3 credit sales of Single Family properties totaling $213,100.

Multi-Family Housing Programs

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 21 loan guarantees totaling $42.4 million. In the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program, there were 6 loans totaling $4.63 million obligated. There were also 13 MPR loans and 2 grants totaling $10.9 million and $53,200 respectively.

USDA obligated funds for 174,858 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $792.9 million. This compares to about 180,219 units ($861.8 million) obligated same time last year. There were also 2,333 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $9.0 million compared to 2,210 vouchers representing $8.3 million this time last year.

Download the combined document.

* 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.

The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) presents this month’s report on Fiscal Year 2017 USDA Rural Housing program obligations.

USDA is operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) which provides funding through April 28, 2017 based on last year’s appropriation levels. Congress will need to pass a final appropriations bill or another CR to keep the government operating after the CR expires.

As of the end of January, USDA obligated 47,874 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $6.56 billion. This is about $1.57 billion more than obligation levels from the same time last year when there were 37,391 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling about $4.99 billion.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights

The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $6.25 billion (43,612 loan guarantees) up from $4.71 billion (34,009) at the same time last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, there have been over $250 million (1,878 loans), also up from $224.5 million (1,714 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 38.6 percent, exceeding the 31.8 percent VLI obligation level at the same time last year.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 897 loans representing $4.9 million. As in the other single family housing programs, loan volume was up from this time last year (696 loans representing $3.8 million.) There were also $8.7 million (1,455 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $5.6 million (936 grants) at the same time last year.

There were also 3 credit sales of Single Family properties totaling $213,100.

Multi-Family Housing Programs

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 18 loan guarantees totaling $35.9 million. In the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program, there were 5 loans totaling $3.44 million obligated. There were also 8 MPR loans and 2 grants totaling $6.2 million and $53,200 respectively.

USDA obligated funds for 128,653 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $588.3 million. This compares to about 130,412 units ($629.6 million) obligated same time last year. There were also 1,593 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $5.9 million compared to 1,627 vouchers representing $6 million this time last year.

Download the combined document.

Individual Program Files

Summary Files Summary of Rural Development Obligations Summary Data of Rural Development Obligations Compared to Previous Year Summary Data of Rural Development Obligations Compared to Previous Month Summary Chart of Rural Development Obligations USDA Rural Development Eligible Areas Single Family Housing Program Obligations Section 502 Direct Homeownership Total Obligations Section 502 Direct Homeownership Low and Very Low Obligations Section 502 Guaranteed Homeownership Obligations Section 504 Total Home Rehab Obligations Section 523 Self-Help Technical Assistance Grant Obligations Section 523 Site Loans Obligations Section 524 Site Loans Obligations

Multi-Family Housing Program Obligations Section 514/516 Farm Labor Housing Obligations Section 515 Rental Housing Obligations Section 521 Rental Assistance Obligations Section 533 Housing Preservation Obligations Section 538 Guaranteed Rental Obligations Multifamily Housing Tenant Voucher Obligations Multifamily Housing Revitalization Demonstration Program Unallocated Program Obligations Section 306 Water/Wastewater Grant Obligations Section 509 Compensation for Construction Defects Multifamily and Single-family Housing Credit Sales

* 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.

The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) presents this month’s report on Fiscal Year 2016 USDA Rural Housing program obligations.

As of the end of September, USDA obligated 132,493 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $17.76 billion. This is less than obligation levels from last year when there were 149,118 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling about $19.89 billion.

Most of the programs were fully obligated this year.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights

The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $16.4 billion (116,684 loans) in loan guarantees. This is about $2.27 billion (17,571 loans) less than last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, USDA obligated about $958.3 million (7,089 loans) in loan obligations in FY 2016; about $58.4 million (25 loans) higher than last year. Very low-income (VLI) loan obligations comprised 37.5 percent of the total Section 502 Direct loan dollars obligated this year. USDA obligated about $58.3 million more than the $900 million appropriated this year. The additional funds were used for low-income loans. Of these funds, $359.8 million were for VLI loans which represents about 40 percent of the $900 million appropriation amount.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 3,162 loans representing $17.4 million. This is 652 more loans or $2.3 million higher than last year. There were 5,010 Section 504 grants totaling about $30.7 million. This is $1.7 million (282 grants) more than obligated last year.

In the Section 523 Self-Help Housing grant program, the agency obligated 36 grants representing nearly $22.1 million and 5 national contracts totaling $6.4 million for a total of $28.5 million, 38 fewer grants and $9.9 million less than last year. Also, there have been 24 credit sale loans of Single Family properties totaling $1.9 million.

For the first time in a number of years, USDA obligated all of $5 million in appropriated funds for the Section 524 site loan program. There was also a $232,700 loan for the Section 523 site loan program as well.

Multi-Family Housing Programs

USDA obligated 119 Section 538 Guaranteed Rental Housing loans this year totaling $186.9 million. This represents 30 loans and over $73 million over last year’s totals.

For the Farm Labor Housing program, 20 loans for nearly $32.1 million and 11 grants ($15.7 million) have been obligated this year. Last year, there were 12 FLH loans and 5 grants representing about $19.3 million and $6.4 million respectively. There have also been 127 Multifamily Housing Preservation & Revitalization loans or grants ($96.1 million) obligated, a decrease of $9.5 million (22 loans or grants) over last year.

Section 521 Rental Assistance obligations reached $1.389 billion (301,792 units) in March. This is about $301.2 million more (56,793 more units) than last year.

There were 5,303 Rural Housing Voucher obligations representing $19.5 million, an increase of 834 units or $3.8 million higher than last year.

Download the combined document.

Individual Program Files

Summary Files Summary of Rural Development Obligations Summary Data of Rural Development Obligations Compared to Previous Year Summary Data of Rural Development Obligations Compared to Previous Month Summary Chart of Rural Development Obligations USDA Rural Development Eligible Areas Single Family Housing Program Obligations Section 502 Direct Homeownership Total Obligations Section 502 Direct Homeownership Low and Very Low Obligations Section 502 Guaranteed Homeownership Obligations Section 504 Total Home Rehab Obligations Section 523 Self-Help Technical Assistance Grant Obligations Section 523 Site Loans Obligations Section 524 Site Loans Obligations

Multi-Family Housing Program Obligations Section 514/516 Farm Labor Housing Obligations Section 515 Rental Housing Obligations Section 521 Rental Assistance Obligations Section 533 Housing Preservation Obligations Section 538 Guaranteed Rental Obligations Multifamily Housing Tenant Voucher Obligations Multifamily Housing Revitalization Demonstration Program Unallocated Program Obligations Section 306 Water/Wastewater Grant Obligations Section 509 Compensation for Construction Defects Multifamily and Single-family Housing Credit Sales

* 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.