Housing Bonds Set New Record in 2017

According to the latest Annual Volume Cap Report issued by the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA), the combined tax-exempt private activity bond (PAB) issuance for multifamily and single-family housing set a record in 2017. The report presents data on how states allocate and utilize their PAB cap each year.

The PAB issuance increased at least 9 percent from 2016 to 2017. According to the report, the combined multifamily and single-family total was $21 billion, an increase of $2.5 billion from 2016. Housing bonds accounted for 84.4 percent of all PABs, the fourth consecutive year that at least 80 percent of PABs went to housing. A record $15.3 billion in multifamily housing bonds, which are paired with 4 percent low-income housing tax credits, was issued in 2017, an increase of $1.3 billion from 2016. CDFA suggests the increase was probably a result of states racing to issue PABs in case they were repealed in tax reform.