State levels playing field for home buyers, creates pathways for affordable housing

New York State is launching a “new framework” requiring investors to wait a 75 day period before purchasing a single building home –  a move that will “level the playing field for everyday New Yorkers who want to buy homes,” New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner Ruth Anne Visnauskas announced at City & State’s Affordable Housing Summit.

Visnauskas explained in her keynote remarks to the  audience at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan Thursday that the waiting period would prevent institutional real estate investors' ability to buy homes the day they go up for sale.

“The way that plays out for most home buyers looking to buy a home, is that a home comes on the market, and the same day goes off,” Visnauskas said. “If it fits their investment, [institutional investors] buy it. So you can't even go look at it, and you can't even think about moving there because the day comes on the market, it goes off.”

The commissioner emphasized the importance of creating pathways for affordable housing across New York state amid rising costs. 

“There are certainly too many people who are just one missed rent payment away from the unhoused or an opportunity to find a home that they can afford and the community today who wants to call home.” 

When asked by City & State about the Pro-Housing Communities program, which incentivizes municipalities who commit to closing the housing shortage in their communities, Visnauskas said the program has certified over 300 communities and granted $250 million in economic and housing development funding since its launch last year.

The commissioner added that the program recently secured $100 million in funding in the newly passed state budget, designated for infrastructure improvements, such as the water system, sewers and roads. She said that poor infrastructure can be a barrier to growing the state’s housing stock. 

Visnsaukas announced that several  housing initiatives  made it in the budget, including tax relief for those living in Mitchell-Lama housing, a mixed income revolving loan program for low cost rental housing construction projects, $1 billion for New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ “City of Yes” housing component in New York City and $50 million for a housing access voucher program for those in the shelter system. Visnauskas told City & State her agency got an overwhelming majority of her requests into the state budget from the legislature, 17 out of 18 of their policy proposals.

On the Trump administration’s potential cuts to the state budget, the commissioner responded that any “drastic cut” would be detrimental since she said she does not “think that this budget or any other budget will be able to make up for federal cuts.”

“We have to fight for the federal government to fulfill his obligations, again, sort of regardless of whether it's on housing, health, transportation, and we're going to look to our congressional delegation to do that with us,” she added. 

The summit also featured panels with professionals, policymakers, developers, and advocates to discuss solutions to the shortage of affordable housing. 

“We’re fighting. We are together at all levels, the state, the city government, not for profit, developers, banks, lenders," said Ron Abad, Chief Executive Officer of Community Housing Innovations, Inc., while moderating the Affordable Housing Trends at the State Level panel. “I need to state that we are all on a housing journey, so this isn't just transactional. This is our fight. A unity together, to make sure that everyone has the dignity of owning a home.”