Since 2002, the Family Housing Fund and HousingLink have published the Housing Counts data set to provide housing leaders and other stakeholders an accurate and consistent way of tracking affordable housing (rental and homeownership) production and preservation each year in the seven-county Twin Cities region, including Minneapolis, St. Paul, and suburban metropolitan communities.
Since its inception, Housing Counts has tracked investment in projects representing more than 30,000 units of affordable housing throughout the seven-county region.
2018 marked a strong year for affordable housing investment, with a total of 2,981 homes funded for new development or preservation across the region. While affordable rental production fell short of its peak in 2017, last year was still the second-highest producing year since metro-wide Housing Counts reporting began in 2004. The City of Minneapolis and suburban communities experienced strong investment in both new rental home construction (1,323 units) and rental home preservation (1,630), both of which have increased steadily over time since the 2008 recession.Suburban communities led in both rental preservation (858 units) and new rental production (710 units), while Minneapolis led in the development of new homeownership opportunities, creating 16 new affordable homes for buyers. Investment in preservation increased compared to 2017, due in part to the pilot launch of the City of Minneapolis' 4D Affordable Housing Incentive Program.
View the Housing Counts 2018 document here, or explore our new Tableau visualization below!