AZURE, Utah — The Utah condominium market has become a major beneficiary of the Affordable Care Act, which has provided billions in tax credits for low-income renters.
In Utah, the new Tax Credits for Affordable Housing are projected to be more than $1 million, which could be used to buy a condominium in the state.
The state will receive $100 million in tax breaks for affordable housing over the next five years.
The Utah Housing Development Authority expects that the new tax credits will be used in the first five years of the program.
“It’s not a bad idea to build a new home, so we’re not talking about condos.
We’re talking about homes,” said Tom McDonough, director of the Housing and Economic Development Office.”
When you’re talking low-cost homes, we think you need a good, solid foundation,” said Sarah McDonagh, who works with the Housing Development Agency on the program, “which we have now.”
McDonough said the program is being used to help renters with mortgage payments.
He said it is designed to help the renters pay down their mortgage payments and get on the housing ladder, and to help them build a retirement nest egg.
“We are going to be doing that for the rest of their lives,” he said.
McDonagh said the state is currently helping about 1,000 low- to moderate-income Utahns through the program with $3.2 billion in tax incentives.
The remaining money will go to help people get the jobs they need to pay off their mortgages.
“What we’re looking at is a little bit of both a financial help and a social help,” McDonigh said.
Utah is one of the few states to be fully implementing the Affordable Housing Act.
The program has been available since last November, but there are still many challenges ahead, including how to track the new residents and to determine what they need.
“They will be able to build their homes, they will be paying their bills,” said Julie Fitch, a housing specialist with the Utah Housing Authority.
“We have to find a way to measure that.”
McDonaldough said there will be an additional $1.4 billion in the Tax Credits program for renters who don’t have a mortgage.
Utah has a median household income of $65,000.
“The average mortgage is $1,000 a month,” Mcdonough said.
“So that’s $1 to $1 and a half, $2,000 to $3,000 for the average Utah household.”
Utah has a population of about 1.3 million, and it is expected to have about 5,700 residents by 2020.