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Housing policy law shifts focus as workforce stock ages

The column argues that with rental housing at a 45-year median age, preservation financing may need to be treated more like infrastructure than a short-hold real estate cycle.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Industry

HousingWire says the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, signed into law on July 11, aims to expand supply, modernize housing programs and reduce development barriers, even as it arrives amid concerns about the nation’s existing workforce rental stock.

The outlet points to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies data showing the nation’s rental housing is older than at any point on record, with a median age of 45 years, alongside an identified shortage of smaller, lower-cost homes.

HousingWire argues that preservation needs may not fit the traditional workforce housing investment playbook, which often relies on rent growth, favorable capital markets and a timely refinance or exit.

As examples of what can go wrong when those assumptions break down, it cites the wind-down of S2 Capital’s inaugural investment fund, saying rising interest rates and moderated rent growth, combined with the rollback of some favorable local housing regulations, made earlier underwriting assumptions harder to achieve.

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