Why This Matters

Like many states around the nation, Oklahoma is facing an increasingly constrained housing market. Home prices for sale and rent have both increased substantially more rapidly than personal income over the past decade. Families with low incomes face particularly high barriers to finding affordable homes. None of the state’s large counties have enough affordable and available housing for these households. The state and local governments can take action to ensure that affordable housing funds and incentives are more effectively used and aligned to serve households with the greatest needs. This report presents findings from our assessment of the affordable housing subsidies and related economic development incentives in Oklahoma.

Key Takeaways

Oklahoma is expanding investment in affordable housing, including through the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, state tax credits, the Oklahoma Housing Trust Fund, and the Oklahoma Housing Stability Program. In addition, Oklahoma City and Tulsa have recently expanded measures to supplement funding for affordable units. Our analysis of state and local programs points to several opportunities for improving outcomes:

• While LIHTC investment has increased in recent years, federal support for deeply affordable units has declined on a per capita basis.
• Several state programs—often because of state legislative requirements—disproportionately concentrate investment in rural areas where a minority of the state’s population lives.
• The state has struggled to leverage the 4 percent LIHTC program, and, as a result, has lost out on about $500 million in bond cap in recent years.
• A disproportionate share of the state’s LIHTC units is located in areas with lower resident incomes—reducing, or at least not increasing, options for people living in affordable units to dwell in high-opportunity neighborhoods.