Vermont Public Radio's "Vermont Edition" aired a segment last week exploring the question of whether or not housing in Vermont is becoming more affordable.
Host Jane Lindholm spoke with Rutland Herald reporter Bruce Edwards about the debate spurred by a recent report published by two Vermont economists.
More than $14 million of economic aid funds have already been released to Vermont, less than 10 days after President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
The funds are directed to state and local agencies through the:
Representatives from Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA), Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) and Central Vermont Community Land Trust (CVCLT) announced Vermont will receive $2.6 million from the MacArthur Foundation.
The foundation's investment — a $600,000 grant to VHCB and a $2 million loan to VHFA — recognizes Vermont’s longstanding commitment to the preservation of rental housing.
Used in conjunction with other investments, the funding will preserve thousands of affordable apartments in Vermont over the next decade.
VHFA Executive Director Sarah Carpenter was interviewed for a couple of TV news stories regarding President Obama's economic recovery package.
Fox 44 in Colchester and WCAX Channel 3 in Burlington spoke with Sarah following the president's talk in Arizona yesterday.
"It's very easy to blame homeowners who may have gotten in over their head in debt, but it's even a greater cost if we have to push them out of their homes and foreclose upon them," Sarah told Channel 3.
Uncertainty is a consistent theme among economists these days, with each round of projections for Vermont's plight worse than the last.
Columnist Robert Samuelson explained to the audience at a Vermont economy conference in early January the only other national economic experience like this was the spiraling inflation of the 1970s because, like now, people could not see where it would end.
According to an article that appeared on bloomberg.com yesterday, Vermont has the lowest foreclosure rate in the nation: 0.04% of all homes in the state.
"Vermont is avoiding the foreclosure crisis plaguing homeowners across the U.S., perhaps owing to traditions of thrift, modesty and self-reliance — bolstered by laws that protect buyers and land," writes Brian Sullivan.