On March 21st , the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors released the 78th annual Economic Report of the President.

The report provides important data about pressing economic issues facing the nation, including the need to increase the production of affordable housing.

The report notes that housing price increases have outpaced wage growth over the last 20 years, but that economic development tools, including incentives like the Historic Tax Credit, offer important ways to increase housing supply.

In particular, the report states that the Historic Tax Credit supports the rehabilitation of historic properties, including those that result in a new or renovated housing supply.

The report references the Department of the Interior’s statistics that since its inception in 1976, the Historic Tax Credit has rehabilitated more than 300,000 housing units and has created 343,000 new housing units, 192,000 of which are low- and moderate-income units.

The economic report highlights that in Fiscal Year 2021, the National Park Service certified 1,063 historic rehabilitation projects to revitalize abandoned and underutilized buildings; nearly 80 percent of them were located in economically distressed areas.