Smart Growth America and its coalition of real estate developers and investors (LOCUS), have issued a new report, Federal Involvement in Real Estate: A Call to Action, calling for improvements to to federal real estate programs. They propose seven policy changes that they estimate could save the federal government $33 billion per year while achieving better outcomes. The reforms are intended to (1) support balanced housing choices that don’t steer households toward a particular housing product (e.g. single family homes), (2) reinvest in existing communities and neighborhoods, (3) provide a safety net and (4) help first time homebuyers. The recommended reforms include:
- Eliminating some rate subsidies from the National Flood Insurance Program.
- Reforming the Federal Housing Administration’s single-family home program.
- Better targeting real estate tax expenditures.
- Preserving and increasing the Low Income Housing Tax Credit.
- Improving the Rehabilitation Tax Credit.
- Establishing individual Mortgage Savings Accounts, and
- Creating an Innovative Financing for Infrastructure Rehabilitation Program.