Oregon Public Broadcasting

The federal government has approved spending $27 million of economic stimulus cash, in an effort to kick-start Oregon's low-income housing market. April Baer reports.

It's a great time to buy, if you've got cash. But if you're a renter living below poverty level, it's hard to even find a place that will take your Section-Eight voucher.

The government wants to encourage developers who might be willing to build or renovate low-income units. But since the markets crashed, it's been difficult to put together financing packages, according to Floyd Smith.

He works for  Oregon Housing and Community Services, an agency that does financing for affordable housing.

Floyd Smith:   "It affects us fairly dramatically if the sponsors of projects can't put together the funders to buy the tax credits."

So the federal cash infusion is meant to round out the loss of hard-to-find tax credits.  Nationwide, about a thousand projects are stalled.

Smith says his agency hopes the cash will create a ripple effect in Oregon, benefitting not just renters, but construction crews and others in the housing business.