NCST serves as an advocate for neighborhood stabilization and blight remediation, and as such, we release articles and also share in press stories with our buyers and sellers to help call attention to their efforts, and to bring more understanding to the continued need for revitalizing our nation’s most vulnerable communities.
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Testimony before the Federal Housing Finance Agency By Kristin Siglin of NCST
December 02, 2019 The National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST) is grateful for the opportunity to comment on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Duty to Serve plans. Download a pdf version of the testimony, here. NCST is a national, non-profit organization that works to restore vacant and abandoned…
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A Message from Lot Diaz, NCST Board Chair
On behalf of the Board, I want to thank and recognize Rob Grossinger for skillfully guiding NCST for four years through an ever-changing REO environment. Rob has made the organization stronger and more mission-focused even while expanding its scope. Under his leadership, the First Look program has…
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Swimming off into the Deep Blue Sea
When I was hired to replace Craig Nickerson as President of NCST, the board asked one thing of me. They asked me to honestly assess the future need for NCST and recommend back to them what to do based on that assessment. While my first year on…
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As Fannie-Freddie reform gets underway, here are the three big questions for the housing market
It’s been over a decade in the making, but an overhaul of Fannie Mae FNMA, +6.52% and Freddie Mac FMCC, +6.28% is finally in the cards. The acting head of Fannie’s and Freddie’s regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, told employees that he was working with Treasury…
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A New Year with Similar Challenges
Welcome to 2019. As we begin our work, we recommit to our challenge of revitalizing neighborhoods through single family rehabilitation and affordable resale. Although the housing market in most of the country has stabilized, there are still many areas that are struggling. Consequently, major challenges remain for…
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Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative – Reflecting on the Third Anniversary, Celebrating Buyer Successes, and Looking To The Future
This December marks three years since we first expanded the Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative (NSI) to 18 markets, and one year since we expanded to our current 28 markets. NSI is a joint effort with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency through which our…
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A tax break to hasten gentrification? Housing market’s Opportunity Zones may miss their target
In mid-November, a Chicago-based private equity firm with an eye on underserved neighborhoods raised $105 million from 425 investors — in just 17 hours. Around the same time and about a hundred miles away, Milwaukee officials were meeting to discuss what they hope is an influx of…
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Land Banks Preparing Strategic Plans to Expand Scope and Community Impact
As the newest member of the NCST team, I’m excited to share some early observations. Over the past four months, I have spent the majority of my time becoming familiar with the community development networks throughout Ohio and Michigan. And in nearly every community conversation there is…
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Support Middle Neighborhoods with a Federal Investment in Home Rehab
Neither rich nor poor. Neither gentrifying nor in steep decline. “Middle neighborhoods” have recently captured the attention of community development circles (and are the subject of ongoing coverage in Next City). These neighborhoods, broadly defined as areas with households earning 80 to 120 percent of the area…
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Innovative Partnership in Chicago Creates New Loan Product to Create and Preserve Affordable Housing Units
Welcome to fall! As you might have noticed, we often use this space to highlight interesting work in which our buyers are involved, and we’re pleased to share news about a great partnership in Chicago established to help preserve more affordable housing. The Joint Center for Housing…
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