This week, the CDFI Fund released their annual report on trends in the NMTC program. The agency also released an additional year of NMTC transaction data (FY 2021).
Summary
Through the FY 2021 reporting period:
- 7,510 QALICBs received $62.5 billion in NMTC investments
- NMTC financing has been used to construct or rehabilitate over 238 million sq. ft. of commercial real estate, including 13.9 million in FY 2021.
- $25 billion in investments were made in community facility projects.
- In 2021, over 42% of QLICIs which totaled more than $1.4 billion were investments in projects with a community facility component.
- Approximately 17,000 units of housing that have been created are reported as affordable housing.
- NMTC investments have led to the reported creation or retention of over 512,200 direct, FTE construction jobs and over 344,000 direct, FTE permanent jobs in businesses financed.
General Trends (FY 2021 vs FY 2003-2021):
- There was an increase in the share of NMTC allocation used for housing in 2021 (2.4%) compared to 2003-2021 (1.4%).
- About 40 percent of projects were community facilities in both periods. However, the types of community facilities financed have changed.
| Category | FY 2021 | FY 2003 to FY 2021 |
| Educational Facilities | 11.5% | 16.2% |
| Healthcare Facilities | 25.9% | 15.5% |
| Arts Facilities | 1.5% | 4.6% |
| Childcare Facilities | 1.9% | 3.8% |
- Investments meeting one or more severe distress criteria were up significantly in FY 2021, from 74.3% to 78.8%.
- Investments in non-metropolitan counties increased from 18.1% to 33.4% in 2021.
- Targeted Populations has nearly disappeared as an eligibility criteria for NMTC transactions, declining from a historical average of of 3.5% to 1.1%.
Flexible Financing Trends
- CDEs are increasingly provided capital with flexible or non-traditional terms. In every category tracked by the CDFI Fund, there was an increase in FY 2021. Highlights:
| Category | FY 2021 | FY 2003 to FY 2021 |
| Equity or equity-equivalent financing | 11.5% | 9.1% |
| Below market interest rates | 98.3% | 93.3% |
| A longer than standard amortization period | 68.1% | 58.3% |
| A longer than standard period of interest only loan payments | 97.2% | 89.7% |
| Nontraditional forms of collateral | 35.0% | 18.1% |
Innovation Investments: Short Term Loans
Shorter-term loans (60 months or less) declined as a share of QLICIs to 7.8% compared to the historical average of 11.3%.
Great job by the CDFI Fund on this report. Be sure to take a look at the whole thing.
