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

USDA operated under a Continuing Resolution (CR) through April 28, 2017 based on last year’s appropriation levels. Congress passed a final appropriations bill to keep the government operating through the end of September. The final spending bill increased funding for several USDA housing programs.

As of the end of May, USDA obligated 94,308 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $12.9 billion. This is about $1.83 billion more than obligation levels from the same time last year when there were 81,225 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling about $11.06 billion.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights

The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $12.2 billion (85,369 loan guarantees) up from $10.0 billion (72,112) at the same time last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, there have been over $510 million (3,792 loans), also up from $536.7 million (4,040 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 39.7 percent, exceeding the 30.7 percent VLI obligation level at the same time last year.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 1,997 loans representing $11.1 million. As in the other single family housing programs, loan volume was up from this time last year (1,804 loans representing $9.8 million.) There were also $18.3 million (3,026 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $19.0 million (3,108 grants) at the same time last year.

There were also 4 credit sales of Single Family properties totaling $346,100.

Multi-Family Housing Programs.

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 51 loan guarantees totaling $89.9 million, up from 62 loan guarantees ($111.2 million.) In the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program, there were 10 loans totaling $10.5 million obligated. No Section 515 loans were obligated this time last year. There were also 15 MPR loans and 2 grants totaling $13.7 million and $53,200 respectively, compared to 29 loans ($18.0 million) and 2 grants ($36,900) this time last year.

USDA obligated funds for 191,632 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $863.7 million. This compares to about 236,667 units ($1.1 billion) obligated same time last year. There were also 2,723 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $10.4 million compared to 3,672 vouchers representing $13.7 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 March, USDA obligated 69,689 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $9.51 billion. This is about $2.04 billion more than obligation levels from the same time last year when there were 56,760 loans, loan guarantees, and grants obligated totaling about $7.46 billion.

Single Family Housing Program Highlights

The Section 502 Guaranteed loan program, the largest of the Single Family Housing programs, obligated $8.95 billion (62,513 loan guarantees) up from $7.0 billion (50,513) at the same time last year.

For the Section 502 Direct program, there have been over $429 million (3,179 loans), also up from $354.8 million (2,699 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 37.5 percent, exceeding the 30.4 percent VLI obligation level at the same time last year.

The Section 504 Repair and Rehabilitation programs obligated 1,535 loans representing $8.4 million. As in the other single family housing programs, loan volume was up from this time last year (1,250 loans representing $6.8 million.) There were also $14.4 million (2,370 grants) obligated in the Section 504 grant program compared to $13.6 million (2,213 grants) at the same time last year.

There were also 4 credit sales of Single Family properties totaling $346,100.

Multi-Family Housing Programs

USDA’s Section 538 Multifamily Housing obligated 39 loan guarantees totaling $71.1 million. In the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing program, there were 10 loans totaling $10.5 million obligated. There were also 13 MPR loans and 2 grants totaling $10.9 million and $53,200 respectively.

USDA obligated funds for 174,967 rental assistance units under the Section 521 Rental Assistance program totaling $793.4 million. This compares to about 207,855 units ($977.7 million) obligated same time last year. There were also 2,712 Rural Housing Vouchers totaling $10.4 million compared to 2,751 vouchers representing $10.4 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.