HousingLink - Affordable Housing Production and Preservation in the Twin Cities metro area.

Housing Counts is a data set that provides an annual accounting of affordable housing projects in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and suburban communities. It offers a systemic and consistent way of measuring progress to municipal and regional affordable housing goals.

Housing Counts Data 2022

Acknowledging that a new data collection process may influence our year-over-year comparison, overall 2022 rental housing production totals (5,488 units) are more or less in line with recent years' totals (less than 7,491 units in 2021, yet more than 4,683 in 2020). In 2022, new production accounted for the majority of affordable units counted in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, whereas the majority of units counted in 2021 were affordability preservation of existing units. New construction in Minneapolis and Saint Paul increased from just 20% of affordable units created in 2021 to 59% of affordable units counted in 2022. Without strong enrollment of new 4D participants (a continuing success story), that new production/preservation reversal would have been even more stark.

Even with these successes, the need for affordable housing far outstrips availability, and we continue to see the loss of “naturally occurring affordable housing” (NOAH) stock. However, it is important to note that the Twin Cities region is experiencing a sustained period of strong affordable rental production; since 2016, each year is exceeding any total we’ve seen since our metro-wide reporting began in 2004.

About the Housing Counts Report Series

Each year since 2002, Family Housing Fund and HousingLink jointly publish data to provide housing leaders and stakeholders with a consistent means of tracking annual affordable housing production, preservation, and loss. The data set provide an annual accounting of affordable housing projects in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and suburban communities, offering a systemic and consistent way of measuring progress to municipal and regional affordable housing goals.

When tracking new production and preservation of affordable housing, there are several points in time when a unit could be “counted.” HousingLink and Family Housing Fund have chosen to count units in the year their funding first closes. Only developments with public and/private capital funding with affordability obligations are listed.

Housing Counts 2002-2022
Reports prior to 2022 are available within our Housing Counts 2002-2022 compilation

Notes on the data:

Housing Counts has been possible through the years in large part due to willing statewide, regional, and local contributors of data that help us tally initial counts and subsequently review our findings, offering additional detail as necessary on projects within their respective jurisdictions. Our process evolved and simplified in 2023 as we partnered with the Metropolitan Council to utilize data from its annual Housing Production Survey. This partnership reduced the overall reporting burden on local government partners and increased the scope of our data inputs.
The list of projects identifies how many affordable units are planned/preserved at three levels of affordability—30 percent, 50 percent, and 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). This corresponds with affordability restrictions required by certain funding streams.
The data set counts units in the year their project financing first closes and includes only developments with public and/or private capital funding that includes affordability obligations.
The report tables divide the projects into three main categories: new production of rental units, new production of homeownership units, and preservation/stabilization of existing rental units.
Rental assistance to renters, financial assistance directly to home buyers, and shelter beds are not included in this data set.
Developments that are designed specifically to serve seniors are indicated with an asterisk in the reports.
Properties included on the preservation/stabilization list were especially at risk of being lost due to major deterioration, financial crisis, or conversion to market-rate rents. This list does not include essential routine capital improvements.
Demolition permit numbers are included to give some context to the production numbers in relation to the number of units lost in the region’s housing stock. However, the demolition number comes from demolition permit issues only; because of this, the actual number of units lost, the affordability level, and the condition of these lost units is unknown.

Questions about the data?
Dan Hylton
Research Manager
HousingLink
dhylton@housinglink.org

Media Inquiries
Sue Speakman-Gomez
President
HousingLink
sgomez@housinglink.org

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