Th e Obama Administration’s Eff U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | Office of Policy Development and Research orts to Stabilize the Housing Market and Help American Homeowners | April 2013

U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Spotlight on the Housing Market in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA | Page 1

Spotlight on the Housing 

Market in the New York-NewarkJersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA

The New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area (New York MSA) includes the fi ve counties that comprise New York City — Bronx, Kings 

(Brooklyn), New York (Manhattan), Queens, and Richmond (Staten Island) — and 20 other surrounding counties located in southeastern New York state, northern 

New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. The foreclosure crisis in the New York MSA developed later and differently than in other areas of the nation. Home price 

appreciation during the housing bubble was much more rapid in the New York MSA than in the nation; yet, home prices did not fall as sharply. Investor speculation 

had little impact on excess housing construction during the bubble as it did in some areas of the country. The share of distressed mortgages in the New York MSA—

those 90 or more days delinquent or in the foreclosure process—actually declined from 2003 through 2006, unlike comparable shares in the rest of the nation that 

generally remained fl at or increased slightly. When the rapid rise of distressed mortgages in the nation began in 2007, the share of distressed mortgages in the New 

York MSA soon followed suit, and rapid increases in local mortgage distress were seen starting in 2007, but did not surpass the national rate until 2009. Although 

the share of distressed mortgages remains high, the foreclosure completion rate has remained well below the national rate. The states of New York and New Jersey, 

both states that require a judicial process for a foreclosure, currently rank fi rst and second in the nation for the time it takes to complete a foreclosure, which is a 

major contributing factor to the high share of mortgages in the foreclosure pipeline. Declining property values after the bubble burst were driven in part by excess 

housing construction, but mainly by rising defaults, spurred fi rst by unsustainable mortgages, then by a sharp downturn in the economy and rising unemployment. 

Economic and housing market conditions in the New York MSA are improving, but the local housing market remains fragile with a high concentration of distressed 

mortgages and relatively low sales. However, the Administration’s broad approach to stabilize the housing market has been a real help to homeowners in New York 

and surrounding cities. This addendum to the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard provides a summary of trends and conditions in the local economy and 

the impact of the Administration’s efforts to stabilize the housing market and help local homeowners. It also provides a summary of the added impacts on the local 

housing market from the devastation brought by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, and how the government response to Sandy is progressing.

Population Growth, Employment, 

and Housing Market: 

With 19.6 million people according to the most recent 

Census, the New York MSA is the largest in the nation. From 

2000 to 2010, the population increased by an average of 

62,300 people, or 0.3 percent a year. Although people 

moved out of the area during the 2000s, natural population 

growth (births minus deaths), which averaged 119,300 per 

year, was greater than the number of people leaving the 

area. An average of 9,000 people moved out of the MSA 

each year from mid-2000 to mid-2002 during the recession 

of the early 2000s, with this number increasing to 112,900 

people from mid-2002 to mid-2007 as home prices rose 

sharply. 

EĞǁzŽƌŬ,ŽƵƐŝŶŐhŶŝƚ'ƌŽǁƚŚKƵƚƉĂĐĞĚWŽƉƵůĂƟŽŶĂŶĚ

Household Growth During the Past Decade

Date of Census 4/1/2000 4/1/2010

EĞǁzŽƌŬD^WŽƉƵůĂƟŽŶ 18,944,519 19,567,410 

 Annual Growth Rate - 0.3%

New York MSA Households 6,891,287 7,152,840 

 Annual Growth Rate - 0.4%

New York MSA Housing Units 7,320,008 7,783,415 

 Annual Growth Rate - 0.6%

Source: Census Bureau (2000 and 2010 Decennial)

During the decade spanned by the Census, new housing production exceeded 

household growth in the New York MSA. Net annual housing unit growth of 0.6 

percent was greater than the corresponding population and household growth 

rates of 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. This excess construction, 

while not as great as in some parts of the nation, nevertheless contributed 

to an oversupply of housing. According to the Census Bureau, the number 

of vacant units increased by an average of 20,200 units, or 4.7 percent, 

annually in New York during the 2000s, slightly more than the national average 

increase of 4.4 percent during the same period. Investor speculation was not 

a signifi cant factor in the overbuilding in the years leading up to the housing 

crisis as it was in other parts of the nation, as a very small share of New 

York area home purchases were by non-occupant investors. Specifi cally, from 

2000 to 2006 investor home sales rose from 4.6 to 7.7 percent of total sales 

in the New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division, while the 

corresponding increase for the nation was from 7.8 to 14.6 percent of sales. 
Th U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | Office of Policy Development and Research e Obama Administration’s Eff orts to Stabilize the Housing Market and Help American Homeowners | April 2013

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Spotlight on the Housing Market in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA | Page 2

Subprime lending, however, is likely to have contributed 

to the overbuilding in New York. A study by the National 

Bureau of Economic Research indicates that 19 percent of 

new mortgages in New York in 2005 were subprime loans 

compared with 20 percent nationally. Although the level of 

subprime lending was comparable to the national average 

in 2005, a conservative estimate based on HMDA (Home 

Mortgage Disclosure Act) data indicates that subprime 

originations tripled nationally between 1998 and 2005, 

while other data sources imply a seven-fold increase in 

subprime originations during this period. According to a 

study by the Center for Responsible Lending, approximately 

90 percent of subprime mortgages experience increases in 

monthly payments of 30 to 50 percent within a few years, 

causing subprime loans to typically default at more than 7 

times the rate of other mortgages.

A strong economic recovery is underway in New 

York. The New York metropolitan area represents the 

largest job market in the nation. The local economy grew 

modestly after the 2001 recession, with nonfarm payrolls 

increasing at an average annual rate of 84,150 jobs, or 

1.0 percent from the third quarter of 2003 through the fi rst 

quarter of 2008. The impact of the 2007-2009 recession 

had a less severe impact on New York than for the nation. 

Jobs in the New York MSA declined at an average annual 

rate of 218,800, or 2.5 percent from the second quarter of 

2008 through the end of 2009, compared with a national 

annual decline of 3.5 percent over the same period. 

Recovery from the Great Recession has been slightly stronger 

in New York, with jobs increasing at an average annual rate 

of 120,400, or 1.5 percent, from the fi rst quarter of 2010 

through the fi rst quarter of 2013, compared with a rate of 

1.3 percent for the nation. 

The New York MSA is known as a major center of world 

fi nancial activities as well as professional and business 

services, which account for a combined total of 24 percent 

of local employment. These sectors have an immense impact 

on local job growth and losses: the two sectors accounted 

for 70 percent of the jobs lost during the recent recession 

and 58 percent of the jobs gained during the subsequent 

recovery. From the second quarter of 2008 through the end 

of 2009, employment in fi nancial activities declined at an 

average annual rate of 36,000 jobs, or 4.6 percent, while 

professional and business services declined at an average 

annual rate of 32,750 jobs, or 2.5 percent. The recovery 

in the New York economy was led by the professional 

and business services sector, which grew at an average 

annual rate of 29,800 jobs, or 2.4 percent, since the fourth 

quarter of 2009, accounting for 56 percent of total job 

growth. The fi nancial activities sector has not recovered 

as quickly, increasing at an average annual rate of 1,190 

jobs, or 0.2 percent, over the same period. The leisure and 

hospitality and retail trade sectors have also contributed 

to the recovery, growing at rates of 2.3 and 1.1 percent, 

respectively. Growth in these sectors more than offset 

average annual job losses of 2.6 percent in construction, 

1.7 percent in manufacturing, and 1.6 percent in the government sector. The 

unemployment rate for the New York MSA peaked at 9.3 percent in February 

2010 and has since fallen to 8.4 percent as of March 2013. The national 

unemployment rate peaked in October 2009 at 10.0 percent, falling to 7.5 

percent by April 2013.
Th U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | Office of Policy Development and Research e Obama Administration’s Eff orts to Stabilize the Housing Market and Help American Homeowners | April 2013

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Spotlight on the Housing Market in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA | Page 3

Impact of Hurricane Sandy on the New York 

Metropolitan Area:

Hurricane Sandy made landfall just north of Atlantic City, New Jersey on 

October 29, 2012, approximately one hour after being downgraded from a 

Category One hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone. According to the National 

Hurricane Center, at least 145 direct deaths were recorded in the Atlantic basin 

due to Sandy. In terms of property destruction and lost economic activity, Sandy 

was the second-costliest cyclone to hit the United States since 1900 with a 

preliminary damage estimate of $50 billion according to Moody’s Analytics. 

The geographies most heavily impacted by Sandy were concentrated in the 

New York MSA. According to registration and inspection data from Federal 

Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Individual Assistance program, the 

New York MSA accounted for nearly 90 percent of the more than 500,000 

registrations for assistance and 95 percent of total assistance provided in the 

Existing and new home sales in the New York 

MSA began a dramatic decline in 2006 but 

have stabilized since 2008. After reaching a peak of 

251,500 units sold in 2005, existing home sales dropped 

by an average annual rate of 16 percent between 2005 

and 2008. Since 2008, the decline in existing home sales 

has slowed to an average annual rate of less than 3 percent, 

reaching a low of 115,600 homes sold in 2012. New home 

sales also peaked in 2005 at 24,600, before falling by 

an average of 15 percent from 2006 through 2009. New 

home sales have since stabilized, declining by an average 

of 700 homes sold per year and reaching a low of 7,700 in 

2012.

New York MSA house prices rose more sharply 

but fell less steeply during the bubble. The 

CoreLogic repeat-sales house price index (HPI) shows that 

home prices in the New York-Wayne-White Plains, NY-NJ 

Metropolitan Division (which includes New York City) rose 

fairly rapidly during the bubble, increasing 20 percent 

faster than the pace for the rest of the nation between 2000 

and 2006. However, house prices fell by only 17 percent 

from their peak in November 2006 to their low in July 2009 

compared to a national peak-to-low decline of 31 percent. A 

relatively low level of distressed sales (involving bank-owned 

properties or short sales) is likely to have played a role in 

the smaller price decline, as distressed sales—at 7 percent 

of existing home sales during this period—were half the 

14 percent national rate. In the last year, distressed sales 

averaged 11 percent in New York compared to 25 percent 

nationally. The lower rate of distressed sales in the New York 

MSA is likely related to the lengthy foreclosure processing 

time in New York and New Jersey, which are the highest 

in the nation. The rise in house prices in New York during 

the bubble had little to do with investor speculation, as 

home sales to investors averaged 7 percent between 2003 

and 2006—much lower than the 13 percent share for the 

nation. As described earlier, subprime lending is likely to 

have spurred demand, however, and fueled home prices. 

Home prices in New York have since bounced back by 9 

percent from their 2009 low, outpacing a 6 percent increase 

nationally. 

The New York rental market continues to be one 

of the tightest in the nation. According to Axiometrics 

Inc., the New York-Wayne-White Plains, NY-NJ apartment 

vacancy rate was 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, 

up from 3.1 percent a year earlier, but still representing 

tight market conditions. The slight increase in the vacancy 

rate was due to a large number of new apartment projects 

entering the market during the past year. The national 

apartment vacancy rate declined from 6.3 to 5.7 percent 

over the same period. During the fourth quarter of 2012, 

the average apartment rent in the New York-Wayne-White 

Plains, NY-NJ metropolitan division was $3,260 compared 

with a national average rent level of $1,076. 

Note: From Jaison R. Abel, Jason Bram, Richard Deitz, and James Orr, “The Region’s Job Rebound 

from Superstorm Sandy,” Federal Reserve Bank of New York Liberty Street Economics blog, March 

11, 2013, available at http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2013/03/the-regions-jobrebound-from-superstorm-sandy.html . 
Th U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | Office of Policy Development and Research e Obama Administration’s Eff orts to Stabilize the Housing Market and Help American Homeowners | April 2013

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Spotlight on the Housing Market in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA | Page 4

disaster declaration area for Sandy. Using FEMA direct 

inspection data as of January 2013, HUD estimates that 

more than 170,000 primary residences in the MSA received 

some damage, with nearly 110,000 receiving serious 

damage, primarily due to fl ooding of one foot or more in the 

living space. Thousands of second homes were likely also 

damaged. As Table 1 shows, the damage was most severe 

in Nassau, Queens, Kings (Brooklyn), and Richmond (Staten 

Island) counties in New York and Ocean and Monmouth 

Counties in New Jersey. Not in the MSA, Atlantic County 

also had signifi cant damage in New Jersey. In the affected 

counties, most damage was due to storm surge, which 

largely impacted the homes along the coastline or on inlets 

to the Atlantic Ocean. 

While the impacts on individual homeowners and affected 

communities were devastating as noted above, the overall 

economic impacts on the job market and employment in 

the region show an immediate spike in initial jobless claims 

and a drop in total employment after the storm, both of 

which rebounded quickly. According to economists at the 

New York Federal Reserve Bank, initial jobless claims only 

remained elevated for two to three weeks. Furthermore, 

total employment in the New York metropolitan area, which 

fell by 32,000 jobs in November, increased by 53,200 

in December to exceed total employment just before the 

storm. The Reserve Bank’s economists explained that while 

many people suddenly found themselves out of work in 

the aftermath of Sandy, some were able to return to work 

within a few weeks, and others found work created as a 

consequence of the storm. 

Trends in Mortgage Delinquencies and 

Foreclosures: 

New York homeowners continue to struggle with high rates of mortgages at risk 

of foreclosure. According to LPS Applied Analytics, as of January 2013 New 

York placed 24th out of 381 metropolitan areas ranked by share of mortgages 

at risk of foreclosure (90 or more days delinquent or in the foreclosure process). 

LPS data show that mortgages at risk of foreclosure decreased by 0.3 percent 

during the last year in the New York MSA, from 200,300 in January 2012 to 

199,700 in January 2013, compared with a national decline of 18.8 percent 

during the same period. CoreLogic data since 2000 indicate that the rate of 

mortgages at risk of foreclosure in the New York MSA declined from 2003 

through 2006, when the average share of distressed mortgages for the nation 

had remained steady or increased slightly. In 2007, when the foreclosure crisis 

began for most of the nation, mortgages at risk of foreclosure in the NY MSA 

followed closely behind the nation—rising from 1.3 percent to 4.2 percent 

compared with a rise of 1.6 percent to 4.4 percent nationally. In 2007 and 

2008, single-family foreclosures were largely driven by unaffordable loan 

products. Beginning in 2009, foreclosures were increasingly driven by loss 

of income, unemployment, and strategic defaults as the economy worsened 

according to research by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. A sharp spike 

upward in the rate of distressed mortgages occurred in 2009 for both New York 

and the nation. By early 2010, mortgages at risk of foreclosure reached a peak 

of 8.0 percent nationally, and have since fallen to 6.0 percent. The share of 

distressed mortgages in the New York MSA outpaced the national rate in 2009 

and has continued to climb to 9.8 percent, although at a slower pace since 

the beginning of 2010. Research by the New York Federal Reserve Bank notes 

that, “Households in the New York-Northern New Jersey region were spared the 

worst of the housing bust and have generally experienced less fi nancial stress 

than average over the past several years. However, as the housing market has 

begun to recover both regionally and nationally, the region is faring far worse 

than the nation in one important respect—a growing backlog of foreclosure 

is resulting in a share of all active mortgages in foreclosure that is now well 

above the national average.” 

A primary reason for the stubbornly high level of mortgages at risk of 

foreclosure in the New York MSA is the time it takes to foreclosure on a 

property. According to Realty Trac® Inc., New York and New Jersey, both states 

that employ the judicial foreclosure process, rank fi rst and second, respectively, 

for the average time it takes to process a foreclosure among states. In the fi rst 

Damage to Primary Residences in NY 

MSA

Total 

Damaged

Seriously 

Damaged

New York City 58,651 38,465

 Queens County 23,031 16,466

 Kings County (Brooklyn) 22,299 13,372

 Richmond County (Staten Island) 11,275 7,956

EĞǁzŽƌŬŽƵŶƚLJ;DĂŶŚĂƩĂŶͿ 1,036 393

 Bronx County 1,010 278

New York - Outside NYC 56,126 38,761

 Nassau County 41,626 29,954

^ƵīŽůŬŽƵŶƚLJ 12,873 8,397

 Rockland County 693 265

 Westchester County 934 145

New Jersey 55,667 32,049

 Ocean County 23,529 17,840

 Monmouth County 13,157 8,572

 Hudson County 5,157 1,933

 Bergen County 3,593 1,806

 Middlesex County 3,985 1,344

 Essex County 2,762 226

 Union County 2,747 298

 Passaic County 737 30

NY MSA Total 170,444 109,275
Th U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | Office of Policy Development and Research e Obama Administration’s Eff orts to Stabilize the Housing Market and Help American Homeowners | April 2013

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Spotlight on the Housing Market in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA | Page 5

quarter of 2013, the average foreclosure processing time in 

New York was 1,049 days—more than twice the national 

rate of 477 days—but down from 1,056 days during the 

fi rst quarter of 2012. In New Jersey, a foreclosure took an 

average of 1,002 days to complete in the fi rst quarter of this 

year, up from 966 days a year ago. The lengthy foreclosure 

processing timelines in New York and New Jersey, along 

with lender processing delays, have resulted in a very high 

share of mortgages remaining in the foreclosure pipeline. 

The State of New Jersey passed legislation in December 

2012 that would shorten the foreclosure process by 

allowing lenders to apply for a speedy summary judgment 

on abandoned properties. The new law, which became 

operative April 1, 2013, is expected to reduce the average 

foreclosure process to three or four months.

Realty Trac data indicate that the foreclosure completion rate 

in the NY MSA has been substantially less than the national 

rate. As of March 2013, the rate of foreclosure completions 

since April 1, 2009 in the New York MSA is 0.4 percent 

compared to a national rate of 2.5 percent. Foreclosure 

completions have been trending downward nationally and 

in New York. For the fi rst quarter of 2013, completed 

foreclosures in New York were down 6 percent from one 

year ago, while completed foreclosures in the nation 

fell by 25 percent during the same period. The efforts of 

numerous state and local entities and fi nancial institutions in 

partnership with the federal government have helped contain 

the rate of foreclosures. Lender processing delays and a 

lengthy judicial process have also contributed to the national 

decline in foreclosure activity. In the wake of the February 

2012 National Mortgage Servicing Settlement, foreclosure 

activity has started to pick up a bit, primarily in states 

where the process slowed dramatically in the last two years. 

CoreLogic reports that 11.9 percent of mortgages in the 

New York-Wayne-White Plains, NY-NJ metropolitan division 

were underwater as of the fourth quarter of 2012—far 

lower than the 21.5 percent nationally—but still representing 

additional homeowners potentially at risk.

Th e Administration’s Eff orts to Stabilize the 

New York MSA Housing Market: 

The Administration’s mortgage and neighborhood assistance programs — 

the Home Affordable Modifi cation Program (HAMP), the Federal Housing 

Administration (FHA) mortgage assistance programs, the Neighborhood 

Stabilization Program (NSP), and the Hardest Hit Fund (HHF) program –

combined with assistance from the HOPE Now Alliance of mortgage servicers 

and the National Mortgage Servicing Settlement have helped stabilize the New 

York MSA housing market.

From the launch of the Administration’s assistance programs in April 2009 

through the end of February 2013, nearly 231,600 homeowners received 

mortgage assistance in the New York metropolitan area. More than 122,500 

interventions were completed through the HAMP and FHA loss mitigation and 

early delinquency intervention programs. An estimated additional 109,100 

proprietary mortgage modifi cations have been made through HOPE Now 

Alliance servicers. While some homeowners may have received help from 

more than one program, the number of times assistance has been provided in 

the New York MSA is more than 8 times the number of foreclosures completed 

during this period (27,200). This relatively high ratio of mortgage assistance to 

foreclosures in the New York MSA since April 2009 (8.5 to 1 compared to 2 

to 1 for the nation) is likely related to a relatively stronger local economy and 

lower unemployment rates over this time, making it easier to effect mortgage 

assistance. Under the landmark National Mortgage Servicing Settlement, 

over 19,000 New York homeowners had benefi tted from nearly $2 billion in 

refi nancing, short sales and completed or trial loan modifi cations, including 

principal reduction on fi rst and second lien mortgages provided as of December 

31, 2012. In New Jersey, over 17,000 homeowners had benefi tted from more 

than $1.5 billion in consumer relief. Nationwide, the settlement has provided 

nearly $46 billion in consumer relief benefi ts to more than 554,000 families. 

That is in addition to the $2.5 billion in payments to participating states and 

$1.5 billion in direct payments to borrowers who were foreclosed upon between 

2008 and 2011.

&ŽƌĞĐůŽƐƵƌĞŽŵƉůĞƟŽŶZĂƚĞƐŝŶƚŚĞEĞǁzŽƌŬD^

Area

First Quarter 2013 Since April 1, 2009

Foreclosure 

ŽŵƉůĞƟŽŶƐ

Foreclosure 

Rate

Foreclosure

ŽŵƉůĞƟŽŶƐ

Foreclosure 

Rate

New York MSA 910 0.01% 27,520 0.4%

EĂƟŽŶ 139,100 0.11% 3,318,200 2.5%

Note: Foreclosure Rates as Percent of All Housing Units; 

Data through March 2013 for foreclosures since April 2009 

Source: Realty Trac and Census Bureau

OMB MSA Defi nition Footnote

Effective February 28, 2013, the Offi ce of Management and Budget released a 

new defi nition for the metropolitan area formerly known as New York-Northern 

New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA. 
Th U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | Office of Policy Development and Research e Obama Administration’s Eff orts to Stabilize the Housing Market and Help American Homeowners | April 2013

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Spotlight on the Housing Market in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA | Page 6

Given over three rounds, the Neighborhood Stabilization 

Program has invested $7 billion nationwide to help 

localities work with non-profi ts and community development 

corporations to turn tens of thousands of abandoned 

and foreclosed homes that lower property values into 

homeownership opportunities and the affordable rental 

housing that communities need. 

NSP1 funds were granted to all states and selected local 

governments on a formula basis under Division B, Title III of 

the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008; 

NSP2 funds authorized under the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act (the Recovery Act) of 2009 provided grants 

to states, local governments, nonprofi ts and a consortium of 

nonprofi t entities on a competitive basis; and NSP3 funds 

authorized under the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and 

Consumer Protection Act of 2010 provided neighborhood 

stabilization grants to all states and select governments on a 

formula basis.

In addition to stabilizing neighborhoods and providing 

affordable housing, NSP funds have helped save jobs. 

Each home purchased, rehabilitated and sold through the 

NSP program is the result of the efforts of 35 to 50 local 

employees. 

Overall, a total of $109.8 million has been awarded to 9 

NSP grantees in the New York MSA. Approximately 366 

households have already benefi ted from NSP, and activities 

funded by the program are expected to provide assistance 

to an additional 633 owner-occupied and renter households. 

Examples of how these funds have been put to use are 

provided below. 

• The City of New York was awarded a total of $24.3 

million in NSP1 funds, $20.1 million in NSP2 funds, 

and $9.8 million in NSP3 funds. The City’s NSP1 

program primarily focused on establishing fi nancing 

mechanisms for the purchase and redevelopment of 

foreclosed and abandoned residential properties, 

while the City’s NSP2 program provides assistance 

for a down-payment and rehabilitation of foreclosed 

homes, mixed-used housing, and stalled or vacant site development. The 

City’s NSP3 program was designed to provide affordable rental housing 

to families earning 50 percent or less of area median income ($41,500 

for a family of four) and the projects must be certifi ed by Enterprise Green 

Communities. Neighborhoods targeted for assistance under all three 

programs are primarily lower income communities with both high rates of 

foreclosed and abandoned properties and subprime lending. 

A portion of the City’s NSP1 grant has been used to leverage the 

purchase and rehabilitation of 14 foreclosed buildings located throughout 

the Bronx. The properties had become extremely dilapidated, and with 

the use of NSP funds the City was able to support their purchase and 

renovation by a local developer. The City used $6.5 million of NSP2 

funds to leverage the acquisition of a 27-building scatter site development 

containing 216 units in central Brooklyn. The City also loaned $3.4 

million of NSP3 funds through its Loan Participation Program to acquire 

and refurbish fi ve buildings in the Hunts Point-Longwood section of 

the Bronx. A total of $9.28 million was raised through the sale of Low 

Income Housing Tax Credits to cover construction costs for the project. 

Many of these foreclosed properties were in the City’s Alternative 

Enforcement Program, an initiative that annually targets 200 of the City’s 

worst properties. To date, the City has restored 81 apartments in this 

project.

• The City of Newark, New Jersey was awarded a total of $3.4 

million in NSP1 funds, $20.8 million in NSP2 funds, and $2.0 million in 

NSP3 funds. The City of Newark used $3.16 million of the NSP2 grant 

to construct the 56-unit Clinton Hill Apartments, a new community in 

Newark’s South Ward neighborhood which serves military veterans and 

low-income families. The Clinton Hill Apartments includes 56 permanent 

affordable apartments and will house a minimum of 14 disabled 

veterans. 

The development was a joint venture by the HELP Development 

Corporation, a national non-profi t organization founded by Andrew 

Cuomo in 1986 to help the homeless and low-income families, and the 

Make It Right Foundation, a non-profi t founded by actor Brad Pitt in 

response to Hurricane Katrina. The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage 

Finance Authority (HMFA) awarded Clinton Hill $1.6 million in federal 

tax credits which generated $11.7 million in equity for the development. 

HELP also received fourteen Section 8 vouchers from the Newark Housing 

Authority and will work with the East Orange VA Medical Center to 

make these units affordable to low-income veterans. The Make It Right 

Foundation contributed its architectural design and sustainability expertise 

to ensure that green features were incorporated into the building’s 

development and construction. 

Clinton Hill’s four-story building features 14 one-bedroom, 20 twobedroom, and 22 three-bedroom units with rents affordable to residents 

earning no more than 50 percent of area median income. The building 

includes a rooftop garden designed for tenants to grow vegetables, as 

well as a solar power array and meets LEED Platinum standards. The 

development contains a community center with a computer room, a fi tness 

center, and meeting rooms. The community center is used by residents, 

HELP’s Mentoring USA program, and other social service programs. 

EĞǁzŽƌŬD^E^WĐƟǀŝƚLJ;,ŽƵƐŝŶŐhŶŝƚƐͿ Projected Completed

NSP1 Total 470 358

ůĞĂƌĂŶĐĞĂŶĚĚĞŵŽůŝƟŽŶ 6 9

ŽŶƐƚƌƵĐƟŽŶŽĨŶĞǁŚŽƵƐŝŶŐ 167 125

 Homeownership assistance to low-and moderate income 6 3

ZĞŚĂďŝůŝƚĂƟŽŶͬƌĞĐŽŶƐƚƌƵĐƟŽŶŽĨƌĞƐŝĚĞŶƟĂůƐƚƌƵĐƚƵƌĞƐ 291 221

NSP2 Total 377 8

ŽŶƐƚƌƵĐƟŽŶŽĨŶĞǁŚŽƵƐŝŶŐ 221 -

 Homeownership assistance to low-and moderate income 17 8

ZĞŚĂďŝůŝƚĂƟŽŶͬƌĞĐŽŶƐƚƌƵĐƟŽŶŽĨƌĞƐŝĚĞŶƟĂůƐƚƌƵĐƚƵƌĞƐ 139 -

NSP3 Total 152 -

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Th U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | Office of Policy Development and Research e Obama Administration’s Eff orts to Stabilize the Housing Market and Help American Homeowners | April 2013

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Spotlight on the Housing Market in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA | Page 7

The Administration allocated $300.5 million from its Hardest 

Hit Fund to the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Housing 

and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) administers these 

Hardest Hit funds through the New Jersey HomeKeeper 

Program, which was launched statewide in May 2011. 

HomeKeeper offers mortgage payment and reinstatement 

assistance for New Jersey homeowners who are unemployed 

or underemployed through no fault of their own and are at high 

risk of default or foreclosure. Through the program, NJHMFA 

provides twenty-four months or up to $48,000 in monthly 

mortgage payment assistance paid to the servicer on behalf 

of the qualifi ed homeowner; the program also provides up to 

$48,000 in reinstatement assistance for recently re-employed 

homeowners to cure delinquent payments, escrow shortages, 

and/or delinquent property taxes to avoid foreclosure. The 

number of homeowners benefi tting from the program has 

steadily increased since 2011, due to strong demand and 

continued economic and disaster recovery challenges for New 

Jersey homeowners. For additional information, 

see https://www.njhomekeeper.com/. 

Th e Government’s Response to Hurricane 

Sandy: 

Multiple agencies at all levels of government have been involved in 

the recovery efforts for Hurricane Sandy. The response to Hurricane 

Sandy began while the massive storm was still gaining strength in the 

Atlantic Ocean. By the time it made landfall along the East Coast, 

FEMA teams and resources were already in place to begin helping 

the millions of people that would be affected by the storm’s immediate 

impact. Recovery and clean-up efforts have only intensifi ed since 

then. According to FEMA, as of mid-April 2013 over $1.3 billion 

has been provided in Individual and Household assistance in New 

York and New Jersey, the Flood Insurance Program has paid claims 

of $6.6 billion, the Small Business Administration has approved 

disaster recovery loans of over $2.1 billion, and more than $1 billion 

in Public Assistance Grants have been approved. The Insurance 

Information Institute reports that private insurers are projected to pay 

out an additional $15.9 billion in New York and New Jersey above 

what is covered by the National Flood Insurance Program. In April, 

state regulators indicated that 93 percent of the insurance claims in 

New York and New Jersey had been settled. More information on 

the government response to Hurricane Sandy in New York and New 

Jersey is available from the FEMA website at http://www.fema.gov/

disaster/4085 and http://www.fema.gov/disaster/4086.

On top of assistance already provided, the Disaster Relief 

Appropriations Act of 2013 was signed into law on January 29, 

2013, which provides an additional $50 billion in funding that is 

spread out across a variety of federal departments and agencies 

primarily to support recovery from Hurricane Sandy. To help 

coordinate the long-term recovery of the region impacted by Hurricane 

Sandy, President Obama created through Executive Order the 

Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force to “...ensure that the Federal 

Government continues to provide appropriate resources to support 

affected State, local, and tribal communities to improve the region’s 

resilience, health, and prosperity by building for the future.” The 

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan, 

chairs the task force, which was offi cially launched on February 5 and 

includes representatives from most federal agencies. The Task Force 

is working with stakeholders in the region to deliver a comprehensive 

regional rebuilding plan within six months, cut red tape and reduce 

regulatory burdens, monitor progress, and provide communities with 

technical assistance and tools to help them realize their vision for 

redevelopment and revitalization. 

In addition to direct funding, the Federal Housing Administration 

(FHA), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Fannie Mae, 

and Freddie Mac put in place foreclosure and eviction moratoriums, 

in effect until April 30, 2013, on the initiation or commencement 

of foreclosure actions against homeowners whose properties were 

damaged or destroyed due to Hurricane Sandy. On April 12th, 

FHA announced additional forbearance relief for affected borrowers 

which would allow borrowers to suspend up to 12 months’ worth of 

mortgage payments while they repair their homes, and potentially 

be eligible for an FHA streamlined loan modifi cation to avoid large 

lump sum payments after the end of the forbearance period. FHA 

and FHFA’s immediate responses to Hurricane Sandy are particularly 

important since the most affected NYC metro area households were 

more likely to live in a unit that had a foreclosure action taken in the 

18 months prior to the storm. HUD analysis shows that households 

whose property was damaged in the storm (as measured by FEMA 

registrations) were 1.5 times more likely to have been ‘in foreclosure’ 

when the storm hit than all households in the MSA; thus the foreclosure 

moratoriums are providing much needed relief for many affected 

families. 

The Hurricane Sandy relief effort has involved cooperation at all 

levels of government, and that while there is much work yet to do, the 

response to Sandy has been broad-based and comprehensive.