Connect with us

News

New York Closes in on Housing Agreement to Address Affordability Crisis

hfony housing deal 01 jpfb facebookJumbo

New York state leaders have reached a deal on the framework of a legislative plan to address one of the worst housing crises in the nation, Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Monday.

The agreement was negotiated by Ms. Hochul and leaders in the Legislature, after a weekend of closed-door talks, and was presented to the full Senate and Assembly on Monday. Some lawmakers raised concerns about some of its critical elements — leaving open the possibility that parts of the deal might still change.

The agreement includes enticements for several major constituencies: tenants, labor unions and developers. For developers, the deal would include significant tax breaks that would make it more affordable to build. For tenants, it would include protections that would make it more difficult to evict renters in some apartments. Unions also ensured that the deal would include higher wages for construction workers.

It would also let landlords of rent-stabilized apartments increase rents to cover the cost of some renovations. And it would lift some size limits on new apartment buildings — a provision city officials have wanted for years.

Together, the measures are an attempt to tackle New York’s housing shortage by making it much easier to build, while also delivering new safeguards for tenants. The package, which is projected to yield tens of thousands of affordable homes in the coming years, is meant to be an urgent response to the worsening affordability problem in New York City and across the state that has been watched nationwide.

Ms. Hochul said while announcing the deal on Monday that getting to the agreement had “demanded unprecedented, all-consuming attention.”

“This is a landmark deal and I’m really proud of it,” Ms. Hochul said.

Despite the gathering momentum behind the package, left-leaning lawmakers are likely to find fault with the deal, whose tenant protections are not as sweeping as many had hoped for. On Monday, roughly 30 tenant advocates gathered at the Capitol to protest; several of them broke into a private Assembly conference to demand lawmakers reject the deal.

Last year Ms. Hochul proposed a wide-ranging plan to spur construction, but that plan failed after key players in the negotiations — the real estate industry, the left wing of the Democratic Party and labor unions — remained at odds.

Check Out Also:  Opinion | Could MAGA Republicans Hinder Baltimore's Reconstruction Efforts?

But it appears the bleak situation in New York City has pushed all sides toward a compromise.

Development of new rental buildings in the city has all but stalled, evictions are ticking up and rents are poised to soar even higher as the summer approaches. An influx of migrants has overwhelmed New York City’s shelter system, and the number of available affordable apartments is functionally zero, according to the most recent city survey.

As part of the deal, lawmakers would trade a new developer tax break for broadened tenant protections — a key priority for the left wing of the Democratic Party.

Labor unions and the left agreed to support a new tax break package, known as 485x, that would apply more broadly than a previous tax break that expired, according to the people familiar with the negotiations. Left-leaning lawmakers had denounced previous versions of the tax break as overly friendly to corporate interests.

The deal would also lift restrictions on large apartment buildings, give developers incentives to convert vacant office buildings to housing and pave the way for more development statewide with tax breaks and incentives.

In exchange, tenant advocates would win protections that are inspired by a bill introduced unsuccessfully in previous years, known as “good cause eviction.” The measure would restrict the ability of landlords to evict tenants in many market-rate units. It would also prevent many landlords from removing tenants after a lease expires and would force them to justify rent increases beyond certain thresholds.

But according to people familiar with negotiations, the protections would apply only to apartments renting for less than certain levels: roughly $6,000 for a one-bedroom apartment in the New York City area, for example. It would not apply to tenants in buildings whose landlords have fewer than 10 units across their portfolios. New construction would be exempt for 30 years. The protections would apply automatically to New York City, but localities in the rest of the state would have to opt in.

An earlier, more expansive version of the measure that was proposed in the Legislature could have covered some 710,000 rentals in New York City, according to an analysis by the New York University Furman Center. But that was before applying many of the exemptions lawmakers have discussed as part of the package.

Check Out Also:  Grubhub accused by L.A. County of deceiving customers

Officials could not provide a better estimate on Monday of how many apartments might be covered by a new measure.

Ben Carlos Thypin, the chief executive of Quantierra, a brokerage that tracks real estate portfolios, estimated that it could cover about 400,000 units, or about one-third of the city’s housing stock that is not already rent-regulated. But he said that the number could change depending on a number of factors, including how the bill is actually written.

The deal would loosen tenant-friendly laws passed in 2019 for landlords who invest in renovations of rent-stabilized apartments. Currently, landlords can only recuperate $15,000 worth of improvements on a single apartment through rent increases — a figure they say is inadequate to keep up with the necessary maintenance, particularly after long-term tenants vacate.

The changes would allow for more investments to be made the longer a unit had been occupied: up to $30,000 for an apartment occupied by the same tenants for more than 15 years, and up to $50,000 for apartments occupied for more than 25 years.

The result is an agreement that state leaders hope could make housing in New York less scarce and more affordable, stemming the exodus of families and people of limited means, and put the city and state economies on a more secure path.

Alicia Glen, a former deputy mayor for housing who helped negotiate housing packages during Mayor Bill de Blasio’s tenure, said the framework seemed like a good deal overall for New York.

“Everybody is going to be somewhere between a little unhappy and very unhappy,” said Ms. Glen, founder and managing principal at MSquared. “That’s the nature of the beast.”

That appeared to be true on Monday.

The Real Estate Board of New York, the influential lobbying group of the real estate industry, welcomed some pieces of the package, including the tax incentives for office conversions and lifting of restrictions on residential density.

Check Out Also:  Webb Observes a Planetary System that has Recently Completed Formation

But James Whelan, the group’s president, said in a statement on Monday that the new tax break for developers and measures designed to help owners of rent-stabilized units would not add up to the amount of housing the city and state need. He said that the “good cause eviction” component would “still create significant new risks for owners, developers and funders.”

“We are confident that this package falls far short of addressing the city’s housing needs and must be reassessed in the coming years to put the rental housing market on a solid footing,” he said.

Cea Weaver, the coalition director of Housing Justice for All, a tenant-advocacy group, called the deal a “sham,” saying that Ms. Hochul was “pushing through a housing deal written by the real estate industry.”

Dorca Reynoso, a renter who is on the board of the Metropolitan Council on Housing, a nonprofit group that advocates on behalf of tenants, was one of the protesters who broke into the closed-door meeting to tell lawmakers what she thought of the deal.

“It’s a crime what they are trying to do to tenants,” Ms. Reynoso said.

Mayor Eric Adams, for his part, applauded the deal on Monday.

“We are going to build our way out of this housing crisis and deliver a better future for all New Yorkers,” he said.

cropped cropped cropped cropped cropped Intellectuals Insider
+ posts
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

News

Is now the right time to invest in gold as prices have cooled?

gettyimages 1204672416


gettyimages-1204672416.jpg
Now may be the time to buy gold following a recent lull in its price.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

The price of gold has climbed to record highs recently and has remained strong through much of April. And, that growth continued until the precious metal traded at around $2,390 per ounce on April 19, 2024. But since, growth in the price of the precious metal has cooled, with gold’s price now hovering around $2,300 per ounce.

This lull in gold’s price may represent an investment opportunity.

In general, investing is centered around buying assets when prices are low and selling them when prices are high – generating a profit on the difference between the two. So, considering the declines in gold’s price over the past few days, now may be the time to make your investment. But is buying gold during this lull in prices really a good idea?

Compare your gold investment options among leading brokers now.

Gold prices have cooled. Should you buy in now?

With gold’s price down from recent highs, you may be wondering if now is the right time to buy in. There are several reasons the dip in gold’s price may represent an opportunity to buy. Here are some of the biggest:

Prices may rise again

If looking at a gold price chart shows anything for certain, it shows that changes in the overall growth of the medal come in fits and spurts. Periods of price growth are typically followed by periods of declines and vice versa.

But with inflation rising in recent months – and with gold’s reputation as a safe-haven asset that can hedge against inflation – it only makes sense that the price of the precious metal will eventually start to head up again in the future. While attempting to time that directional change may be tricky, buying the precious metal while the price is down gives you the opportunity to take advantage of any upward movement that may be ahead.

Add gold to your portfolio now before prices have a chance to rise.

You may be able to make a quick profit

Gold isn’t known as an asset in which you can earn a quick return, but in today’s market, that may be the case. Don’t forget that in January, gold was trading at just $2,000 per ounce. And, by mid-April, the commodity’s price had climbed to around $2,400 per ounce. That’s about 20% growth in a matter of months, much of which happened since March 1 – an impressive climb for any investment asset.

Perhaps more importantly, gold’s price growth through the beginning of 2024 shows that the commodity doesn’t have to be a buy and hold style investment that you keep in a safety deposit box or precious metal depository for years to come. There’s also the possibility that the commodity’s price could climb further ahead, making it a compelling way to potentially generate a quick profit.

There are other benefits of investing in gold

There are other benefits of investing in gold that have little to do with the price growth seen thus far in 2024 – or the lull in prices seen over the past couple of days. Those benefits include:

  • Inflation protection: Gold has long been considered an inflation hedge, and for good reason. When inflation drives the prices of consumer goods and services up – and the value of the dollar down – gold’s price tends to rise. So, it could be used to maintain the value of your portfolio during inflationary economic conditions. That’s important in today’s economic environment as stubborn inflation continues to weigh on the value of the dollar.
  • Portfolio diversification: Gold’s price doesn’t always move in the same pattern that bonds or stocks do. So, mixing a reasonable amount of gold into your portfolio (up to 10% of your portfolio assets) as a diversifier could protect you from losses should one or more of your traditional portfolio assets fall in value. “If you have less than 5% – 10% of your net worth in commodities & FX (forex), you should absolutely consider adding exposure to gold and other precious metals,” says Vijay Marolia, money manager and managing partner at the wealth management firm, Regal Point Capital.

The bottom line

Gold’s price has fallen from recent highs – which may represent an opportunity to tap into growth ahead. However, gold isn’t simply a “buy while it’s low and sell while it’s a high” kind of investment opportunity. The commodity can also protect your portfolio from the stubborn inflation we’ve seen thus far in 2024 while acting as a diversification tool that could increase your risk-adjusted portfolio returns. So, consider adding gold to your portfolio today while it has the potential to grow in value.

cropped cropped cropped cropped cropped Intellectuals Insider
+ posts
Check Out Also:  Architect Creating Community Wins Prestigious Pritzker Prize
Continue Reading

Featured

gettyimages 1204672416 gettyimages 1204672416
News6 days ago

Is now the right time to invest in gold as prices have cooled?

Now may be the time to buy gold following a recent lull in its price. Getty Images/iStockphoto The price of...

1 voyager artists concept 16 e1713838791668 1 voyager artists concept 16 e1713838791668
News6 days ago

Voyager 1 Communications Restored by NASA

NASA has successfully restored communication with the Voyager 1 spacecraft, much to the relief of mission engineers, scientists, and space...

80550955 80550955
Entertainment6 days ago

Kim Kardashian completes strange task before having her coffee

Kim Kardashian, the famous reality TV star and entrepreneur, recently revealed a bizarre quirk that she indulges in before she...

urlhttps3A2F2Fcalifornia times brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com2F8c2F9b2F6e42f28f4aea944452b86b0ba9cb2Fhttps delivery gettyimages.com2Fdownloads2F1848151224 urlhttps3A2F2Fcalifornia times brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com2F8c2F9b2F6e42f28f4aea944452b86b0ba9cb2Fhttps delivery gettyimages.com2Fdownloads2F1848151224
News1 week ago

Kevin McCarthy, former House Speaker, seeks revenge

Ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is out for vengeance. After being voted out as House speaker, McCarthy left office at...

21uk labour 02 mjvk promo facebookJumbo 21uk labour 02 mjvk promo facebookJumbo
News1 week ago

Possible Future Colleague of Trump: David Lammy, a Close Associate of Obama

David Lammy, a prominent British politician with deep ties to the United States, is poised to become Britain’s foreign secretary...

13081 13081
News1 week ago

Juno discovers massive lava lake on Io

NASA’s Juno spacecraft recently made two close flybys of Jupiter’s moon Io, coming within 1,500 km (930 miles) of its...

80428178 80428178
Entertainment1 week ago

Bethenny Frankel reveals that her mother Bernadette Birk passed away from lung cancer

Bethenny Frankel, former star of “The Real Housewives of New York City,” is mourning the loss of her mother, Bernadette...

urlhttps3A2F2Fcalifornia times brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com2Fcf2F8c2Fdc0c07054e06a67a4adfd6298caa2F1436454 me 0415 parking 3 rcg urlhttps3A2F2Fcalifornia times brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com2Fcf2F8c2Fdc0c07054e06a67a4adfd6298caa2F1436454 me 0415 parking 3 rcg
News2 weeks ago

Forest Lawn Drive now free of RV encampment and parking

Nancy Sexton was thrilled when city crews cleared out more than 50 RVs in December that had been parked near...

00cli AmblerRoad facebookJumbo 00cli AmblerRoad facebookJumbo
News2 weeks ago

Alaska Ambler Road Project Denied by Interior Department

The decision by the Interior Department to reject the Ambler Road Project in Alaska is a significant win for environmentalists...

gettyimages 2147841407 gettyimages 2147841407
News2 weeks ago

House speaker receives additional request from GOP member to resign or be ousted

House Speaker Faces New Call by Another Republican to Step Down or Face Removal House Speaker Johnson says he’s not...

Advertisement

Facebook

Trending