Affordable Housing Bond Overview and Project Details - $30 Million

Sep 2, 2026

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A $30 million funding recommendation addresses Asheville’s worsening affordable housing crisis by increasing dedicated resources and accelerating delivery of low- and moderate-income homes. The proposal targets a shortfall of thousands of for-sale units by 2020 and beyond, adds economic benefits through jobs and local spending, and supports program rollout with staffing needs that ease over time. It includes four recommended initiatives and detailed guidance for a Homeownership Developer Loan Program, with construction-term financing assumptions, unit targets, and community impact projections.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Category Overview Affordable Housing Programs

Funding Recommendation and Project Justification

Recommended Programs/Initiatives

Project Detail - Affordable Housing-Homeownership Developer Loan Program

Proposed Investment and Preliminary Guidelines

Ways This Project Fulfills a Master Plan or Addresses a Current Need

Community Impacts and Project Benefits

Impact to Current Work Plans and Project Schedules

| Category Overview Affordable Housing Programs | | --- | | Funding Recommendation: $30 Million | | Project Justification
Asheville is in an affordable housing crisis that continues to worsen each year. Even with the increase in the number of rental units on the market, rental prices are still increasing. The Affordable Housing Score Card completed in January 2014 states that,“In 2013, the Asheville Consortium assisted with 402 affordable housing units, while the city of Durham assisted with 167 units.” Even with our successful accomplishments, it is not enough.
The Bowen Report of January, 2015, stated that the City needs more than 7,000 housing units affordable to low and moderate income families by 2020. Our current pace to meet that need, supporting 100-200 new units a year through our existing funding, falls far short of meeting that need, and short of Council’s goal of 2,800 new units by 2022. Additional funding dedicated to affordable housing will help provide new housing solutions, as well as creates economic benefit through job creation, materials purchasing and secondary spending.
Many of the programs recommended in this package will require additional resources in the early years of the bond to establish processes and procedures. The staffing demands become less onerous as the programs become more established.
The city’s comprehensive affordable housing strategy includes the recommendation for additional dedicated funding for affordable housing through:
􀁸 Creating diverse housing choices in every neighborhood.
􀁸 Facilitating the creation of a variety of housing options in every part of the city, including existing single-family neighborhoods and commercial districts. | | Recommended Programs/Initiatives
1. Homeownership Developer Loan Program - $7 M
2. Increased Housing Trust Fund - $5 M
3. Community Land Trust Formation - $3 M
4. Land Banking or Repurposing City Owned Land - $15 M | | Project Detail
Affordable Housing-Homeownership Developer Loan Program | | --- | | Funding Recommendation:
$7 million | | Project Justification:
The lack of homeownership opportunities, coupled with strong demand for both long and short term rentals, also depletes the for-sale housing stock, as well as escalates pricing. It also bears noting that 75% of the ownership supply gap is needed by households aged 55 or older.
The 2015 Bowen Report indicated an anticipated deficit of 3,800 units available for sale to households earning 120% or less of median income by 2020 in Asheville and Buncombe County. Market data for Asheville and Buncombe County shared by the Land of the Sky Association of Realtors (LOTSAR) shows that the median home price in Asheville has risen higher than pre-2008 levels, reaching a new record high of $250,000 in the first quarter of 2016. Homes costing less than $200,000 represent 13% of the current for-sale inventory in Asheville and Buncombe County, and on the average, spend less than 2 months on the market before sale closing. As pointed out by Bowen, the market segment of those looking for housing at these price points represents 75% of the market seeking to purchase in Asheville. | | Proposed Investment:
The Affordable Homeownership Developer loan program would remove the barrier for credit worthy and experienced developers to build affordable, dense housing by providing secondary construction loans that would mitigate the superior conventional loan risks to the banks, and allow for sufficient financing for construction and sale.
Preliminary suggested guidelines are as follows:
􀁸 Maximum loan: $5 million
􀁸 Minimum loan: $500,000
􀁸 Anticipated leveraging: 50% private to 50% program funds
􀁸 Interest rate: same as conventional rate
􀁸 Term: three years (construction lending only)
􀁸 Minimum Units Per Loan: 6
􀁸 Range of sales price of completed units: $125,000- $175,000
􀁸 Transferrable to homeowner: No
􀁸 Estimated number of units created: fir

FAQs

Why is additional affordable housing funding recommended in Asheville?

The document cites an ongoing affordable housing crisis with rising rental prices and an insufficient pace of new units to meet stated council and report targets.

What are the four recommended programs included in the package?

They are the Homeownership Developer Loan Program ($7M), Increased Housing Trust Fund ($5M), Community Land Trust Formation ($3M), and Land Banking or Repurposing City Owned Land ($15M).

How does the Homeownership Developer Loan Program work and what are the key guidelines?

It provides secondary construction loans to developers to mitigate lender risk and enable financing for construction and sale, with proposed maximum and minimum loan amounts, a construction-only three-year term, and estimated unit creation targets for the first and revolved allocations.

Sep 2, 2026

Upload by Ezra