Report: Feds supported Minn.'s affordable housing in recession

A new report shows Minnesota has been able to preserve and develop affordable housing, despite the tough economic climate.

The report, from the McKnight Foundation and non-profit HousingLink, is based on four years of data.

It found that Minnesota housing groups leveraged federal dollars to produce more than 4,000 new rental units, preserve existing properties, and improve access to down-payment assistance for homeowners.

"In large part due to a spike in federal investment through the stimulus package, Minnesota has been able to maintain or improve past levels of production," said HousingLink researcher Dan Hylton.

More affordable housing is needed as more people experience the effects of the downturn, he said.

"Housing that is targeted at low- to moderate-income families with the idea that sort of the market rate, the standard rate that rental is going at is not really accessible to significant segments of our population," Hylton said.

The report also highlights the home ownership gap between white and non-white households. That gap has widened from 31 percent to 36 percent in the last two years, and minority and immigrant households are more likely to experience foreclosure.

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