HUD Proposes Fair Market Rents for 2012

The proposed fiscal year (FY) 2012 fair market rents (FMRs) were published in the Federal Register on Aug. 19. The final FMRs are expected to be published by Oct. 1. The final FMRs are used in the Housing Choice Voucher, the Moderate Rehabilitation, the project-based voucher, and other programs that require location-specific economic data.

According to the figures, HUD has proposed lower FY 2012 FMRs for most of the country. Proposed FMRs for approximately 70 percent of counties would be lower than for FY 2011; FMRs in approximately 30 percent of counties would increase under the proposal over 2011 levels; and approximately 1 percent of counties would have no change in FMRs.

The five areas with the largest proposed decreases in FMRs are all located in Alaska. The proposed FMR decreases in these areas ranged from 34 to 48 percent and would result in rents that are between $394 and $559 lower than those in FY 2011. Conversely, looking at areas with the largest rent increases, three of the five counties with the largest proposed increases in FMRs are in Texas.