Latest news with #OpportunityZones
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion - Lawmakers can help usher in a golden age by extending Opportunity Zones
With the passage of the House reconciliation bill, the majority party is working on sending one 'big, beautiful bill' to the Oval Office. While Medicare debates dominated the budget conversation, President Trump's 'number one economic development project ever in our country,' Opportunity Zones, is uniting lawmakers across the aisle. One of the administration's key achievements was a first-of-its-kind tax incentive designed to uplift the nation's most vulnerable communities. Known as the Opportunity Zones tax incentive, the federal program gave working-class Americans a chance to benefit from a growing economy — many of whom had been overlooked during the 2008 financial crisis. Opportunity Zones leverage capital gains that otherwise would remain on the sidelines in investors' portfolios, deploying those gains into low-income neighborhoods desperate for capital to come — and stay — in their communities. If investors keep their funds in these communities for 10 years, the gains are tax-free, a win-win for investors and residents of low-income neighborhoods. The bipartisan initiative flooded low-income communities with private capital and helped breathe life into previously neglected neighborhoods. Now, Congress should prioritize expanding Opportunity Zones or making the tax incentive permanent, ensuring that funding continues to reach the nation's underserved communities. Since its 2017 inception, the program has been a success. The results speak for themselves. Opportunity Zones have raised employment growth by 3 to 4.5 percentage points in OZ communities relative to similar non-OZ areas. Corporations and manufacturers made massive investments domestically that created good-paying jobs for millions of Americans. According to a 2022 report from the Joint Committee on Taxation, Qualified Opportunity Zone Funds have raised more than $85 billion in equity — with another three years of investment beyond that. Over half of this money has gone toward new housing projects alone — a victory for families working hard to achieve the American dream of homeownership. Previously overlooked communities like Erie, Pa. — once home to one of the poorest ZIP codes in America — benefitted from Opportunity Zones. Erie alone saw over $400 million in new, long-term capital investment, with similar success stories across all 50 states and territories. The federal incentive doesn't dictate where investments should go; instead, it empowers communities to develop the resources they need. While Opportunity Zones have significantly expanded housing stock, they have also spurred major investments in new businesses, industrial revitalization and manufacturing development. Projects have ranged from research and development labs, and academic spaces to more localized initiatives like constructing a grocery store in a former food desert. Other examples include the launch of a 5G technology manufacturing center and the transformation of long-vacant buildings into job training hubs, employment centers and entrepreneurship incubators. The incentive benefits rural communities, too. In Eastern North Carolina, Promised Land's Opportunity Zone fund has invested in a 4,000-acre working farm that produces potatoes, corn and soybeans on a massive scale, adding a $4 million state of the art grain bin system. The farm improved its long-term productivity and, importantly, the community's economic sustainability. These projects are crucial as nearly 40 million Americans live in poverty and grapple with high living costs and limited access to economic opportunities. Opportunity Zones align their needs with investors searching for new opportunities as they navigate a volatile stock market. Before the Opportunity Zones program was imagined, President Trump reshaped the skylines of our nation's busiest hubs — changing their trajectory in the process. That same legacy lives on through this important initiative — only this time touching more communities than ever before. Federal lawmakers should make it a priority to extend or make permanent the Opportunity Zones program. Shay Hawkins is deputy director for Opportunity Zones at America First Policy Institute. Jill Homan is advisor for Opportunity Zones at America First Policy Institute. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
a day ago
- Business
- The Hill
Lawmakers can help usher in a golden age by extending Opportunity Zones
With the passage of the House reconciliation bill, the majority party is working on sending one 'big, beautiful bill' to the Oval Office. While Medicare debates dominated the budget conversation, President Trump's 'number one economic development project ever in our country,' Opportunity Zones, is uniting lawmakers across the aisle. One of the administration's key achievements was a first-of-its-kind tax incentive designed to uplift the nation's most vulnerable communities. Known as the Opportunity Zones tax incentive, the federal program gave working-class Americans a chance to benefit from a growing economy — many of whom had been overlooked during the 2008 financial crisis. Opportunity Zones leverage capital gains that otherwise would remain on the sidelines in investors' portfolios, deploying those gains into low-income neighborhoods desperate for capital to come — and stay — in their communities. If investors keep their funds in these communities for 10 years, the gains are tax-free, a win-win for investors and residents of low-income neighborhoods. The bipartisan initiative flooded low-income communities with private capital and helped breathe life into previously neglected neighborhoods. Now, Congress should prioritize expanding Opportunity Zones or making the tax incentive permanent, ensuring that funding continues to reach the nation's underserved communities. Since its 2017 inception, the program has been a success. The results speak for themselves. Opportunity Zones have raised employment growth by 3 to 4.5 percentage points in OZ communities relative to similar non-OZ areas. Corporations and manufacturers made massive investments domestically that created good-paying jobs for millions of Americans. According to a 2022 report from the Joint Committee on Taxation, Qualified Opportunity Zone Funds have raised more than $85 billion in equity — with another three years of investment beyond that. Over half of this money has gone toward new housing projects alone — a victory for families working hard to achieve the American dream of homeownership. Previously overlooked communities like Erie, Pa. — once home to one of the poorest ZIP codes in America — benefitted from Opportunity Zones. Erie alone saw over $400 million in new, long-term capital investment, with similar success stories across all 50 states and territories. The federal incentive doesn't dictate where investments should go; instead, it empowers communities to develop the resources they need. While Opportunity Zones have significantly expanded housing stock, they have also spurred major investments in new businesses, industrial revitalization and manufacturing development. Projects have ranged from research and development labs, and academic spaces to more localized initiatives like constructing a grocery store in a former food desert. Other examples include the launch of a 5G technology manufacturing center and the transformation of long-vacant buildings into job training hubs, employment centers and entrepreneurship incubators. The incentive benefits rural communities, too. In Eastern North Carolina, Promised Land's Opportunity Zone fund has invested in a 4,000-acre working farm that produces potatoes, corn and soybeans on a massive scale, adding a $4 million state of the art grain bin system. The farm improved its long-term productivity and, importantly, the community's economic sustainability. These projects are crucial as nearly 40 million Americans live in poverty and grapple with high living costs and limited access to economic opportunities. Opportunity Zones align their needs with investors searching for new opportunities as they navigate a volatile stock market. Before the Opportunity Zones program was imagined, President Trump reshaped the skylines of our nation's busiest hubs — changing their trajectory in the process. That same legacy lives on through this important initiative — only this time touching more communities than ever before. Federal lawmakers should make it a priority to extend or make permanent the Opportunity Zones program. Shay Hawkins is deputy director for Opportunity Zones at America First Policy Institute. Jill Homan is advisor for Opportunity Zones at America First Policy Institute.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S. HUD Secretary views Opportunity Zones, partnering with Rep. Kelly for legislation
Opportunity Zones have become a significant tool for economic development in financially distressed areas across the United States, with Erie, Pennsylvania, emerging as a leader in this initiative. Introduced in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Opportunity Zones provide capital gains tax incentives to investors who support projects in economically disadvantaged regions. Erie has attracted nearly $400 million in investments, showcasing its success as a model city for this program. Erie Co. Veteran Memorial Park construction will soon be complete U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner highlighted Erie's community spirit as a key factor in its success, stating, 'Whenever you talk to the people of Erie, there's always a spirit of team.' U.S. Representative Mike Kelly emphasized the program's potential to create jobs and lift communities out of poverty, saying, 'This is going to create job after job after job which will create revenue that lift our communities out of the poverty that we're in.' Secretary Turner and Representative Kelly visited Erie to assess the progress of Opportunity Zone projects, touring sites like the 12th Street Corridor, Renaissance Center and Frontier Park. Secretary Turner emphasized the potential of Opportunity Zones to foster innovation and skill development, contributing to economic growth in distressed areas. PennDOT planning to demolish Girard bridge over I-90 Congress is considering extending and expanding Opportunity Zone legislation, which could further enhance its impact on communities like Erie. As Erie continues to lead in Opportunity Zone development, the city exemplifies how strategic investment can drive economic growth and community revitalization. All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WJET/WFXP. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WJET/WFXP staff before being published. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
HOME-PRICE TRENDS IN OPPORTUNITY ZONES STILL FOLLOWING NATIONAL PATTERNS DURING FIRST QUARTER OF 2025
Price Gains Inside Opportunity Zones Targeted for Economic Redevelopment Settle Down Along with Broader U.S. Housing Market During Slow Winter Period IRVINE, Calif., May 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property data, and real estate analytics, today released its first-quarter 2025 report analyzing qualified low-income Opportunity Zones targeted by Congress for economic redevelopment in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (see full methodology below). In this report, ATTOM looked at 3,558 zones around the United States with sufficient data to analyze, meaning they had at least five home sales in the first quarter of 2025. The report found that median single-family home and condo prices increased from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025 in 48 percent of Opportunity Zones around the country with enough data to measure. That happened as the national median price remained the same. Medians were up annually in 59 percent of Opportunity Zones during a time when the typical nationwide price went up 8 percent. As the U.S. housing market boom continued into in its 14th year, median prices grew more than 10 percent annually in close to half the Opportunity Zones analyzed. Those trends, in and around low-income neighborhoods where the federal government offers tax breaks to spur economic revival, extended a long-term pattern of home values inside Opportunity Zones closely tracking broader nationwide price shifts for at least the last four years. That scenario has held regardless of whether the housing market has seen small, moderate or robust gains. Despite prices continuing to rise in a majority of Opportunity Zone markets when measured year over year, the first-quarter trends again were mixed, with typical values again rising far more often in higher-priced zones than in the very lowest-priced neighborhoods. That continued to show more significant weakness at the very bottom of the U.S. housing market, suggesting that those areas are reaping the fewest benefits from rising home values and could be more vulnerable if the broader market surge stalls. Nevertheless, the latest patterns mark yet another sign that some of the most distressed communities in the nation are showing economic strength, or limited weakness, compared to other markets around the country. By several important measures, Opportunity Zones continued to enjoy even better price trends than the nation as a whole during the first quarter of 2025. For example, annual median price increases bested typical nationwide gains in a slightly larger portion of Opportunity Zones than elsewhere. "Home-value patterns inside Opportunity Zones remain pretty much in lock-step with the rest of the country, just as we've seen ever since we started looking at this niche of the market. From one to another, those very local markets remain volatile, with troubling signs in the very lowest-priced areas. But the big picture shows remarkable, and mostly positive, consistency," said Rob Barber, CEO for ATTOM. "This likely reflects the ongoing short supply of homes for sale across the country and rising prices, which pushes marginal buyers to roll the dice on locations with varying levels of economic distress." Barber added that "the home-buyer money flowing into these communities shows enduring potential for them to turn around, providing solid foundations for investors looking to use the Opportunity Zone incentives." Opportunity Zones are defined in the Tax Act legislation as census tracts in or alongside low-income neighborhoods that meet various criteria for redevelopment in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. Census tracts, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, cover areas that have 1,200 to 8,000 residents, with an average of about 4,000 people. Amid varying levels of economic challenges, typical home values across wide swaths of Opportunity Zones remained far below those around most of the nation in the early months of 2025. Median first-quarter prices inside 80 percent of the zones with enough data to measure stood below the U.S. median of $355,000. That was about the same portion as in other time periods since 2020. In addition, median prices remained less than $200,000 in almost half the zones. Considerable price volatility also continued inside Opportunity Zones, with median values either dropping or increasing by at least 5 percent in nearly three-quarters those locations from late 2023 to early 2024. That again likely reflected small numbers of sales in many zones. Still, when taken as a whole, the latest overall trends in Opportunity Zones still generally matched the nationwide path of home prices during the first few months of 2025. High-level findings from the report: Median prices of single-family homes and condos increased from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025 in 1,491 (48 percent) of the Opportunity Zones around the U.S. with sufficient data to analyze, while staying the same or decreasing in 52 percent. Measured annually, medians remained up from the first quarter of 2024 to same period this year in 1,762 (59 percent) of those zones. (Among the 3,558 Opportunity Zones included in the report, 3,120 had enough data to generate usable median-price comparisons from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025; 3,004 had enough data to make comparisons between the first quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025). Both the quarterly and annual trends in Opportunity Zones matched patterns in other areas: median prices rose quarterly and annually in the same portion of census tracts outside of Opportunity Zones - 48 percent and 59 percent. Typical values were up more than 10 percent annually in 42 percent of Opportunity Zones, compared to 37 percent of neighborhoods outside the zones. However, in a continuing potential sign of trouble, median prices were up annually in only 47 percent of Opportunity Zones where homes commonly sold for less than $125,000 during the first quarter of 2025. Among states that had at least 25 Opportunity Zones with enough data to analyze during the first quarter of 2025, the largest portions of zones where median prices increased annually were in Indiana (medians up from the first quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025 in 75 percent of zones), New York (72 percent), Missouri (70 percent), Colorado (69 percent) and New Jersey (65 percent). States where prices were up annually in the smallest portion of zones included Nevada (median prices up in 44 percent of zones), Washington (49 percent), Florida (49 percent), Iowa (52 percent) and Tennessee (52 percent). Of the 3,558 zones in the report, 1,097 (31 percent) had median prices below $150,000 in the first quarter of 2025. That was down from 34 percent of zones with sufficient data a year earlier and 57 percent five years ago. Another 556 zones (16 percent) had medians in the first quarter of this year ranging from $150,000 to $199,999. Median values in the first quarter of 2025 ranged from $200,000 to $299,999 in 24 percent of Opportunity Zones while they topped the nationwide first-quarter national median of $355,000 in just 20 percent. The Midwest continued in the first quarter of 2025 to have larger portions of the lowest-priced Opportunity Zone tracts. Median home values were less than $175,000 in 61 percent of zones in the Midwest, followed by the Northeast (42 percent), the South (39 percent) and the West (6 percent). Report methodologyThe ATTOM Opportunity Zones analysis is based on home sales price data derived from recorded sales deeds. Statistics for previous quarters are revised when each new report is issued as more deed data becomes available. ATTOM's analysis compared median home prices in census tracts designated as Opportunity Zones by the Internal Revenue Service. Except where noted, tracts were used for the analysis if they had at least five sales in the first quarter of 2025. Median household income data for tracts and counties comes from surveys taken by the U.S. Census Bureau ( from 2019 through 2023. The list of designated Qualified Opportunity Zones is located at U.S. Department of the Treasury. Regions are based on designations by the Census Bureau. Hawaii and Alaska, which the bureau designates as part of the Pacific region, were included in the West region for this report. About ATTOMATTOM powers innovation across industries with premium property data and analytics covering 158 million U.S. properties—99% of the population. Our multi-sourced real estate data includes property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, neighborhood and geospatial boundary information, all validated through a rigorous 20-step process and linked by a unique ATTOM ID. From flexible delivery solutions—such as Property Data APIs, Bulk File Licenses, ATTOM Cloud, Real Estate Market Trends—to AI-Ready datasets, ATTOM fuels smarter decision-making across industries including real estate, mortgage, insurance, government, and more. Media Contact:Megan Data and Report Licensing:949.502.8313datareports@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE ATTOM
Forbes
13-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Tax-Efficient Wealth Strategies For High-Income Investors
Tax-efficient wealth strategies can help you align your financial goals with smart structures and investment vehicles that legally minimize your tax burden. getty For high-income earners and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, one of the most pressing concerns isn't just how to grow wealth. There are also questions regarding ways to keep it. As income rises, so does the complexity of the tax landscape. Tax-efficient wealth strategies can help you align your financial goals with smart structures and investment vehicles that legally minimize your tax burden. In this article, we'll take a high-level look at three powerful strategies: private equity investments, municipal bonds, and Opportunity Zones. Each offers unique advantages for those looking to preserve capital and grow wealth over the long term. Unlike public market investments, private equity deals often delay taxation until a liquidity event occurs. This could take the form of a sale or IPO. The deferral of capital gains allows more of your money to stay invested longer. In addition, many private equity structures qualify for long-term capital gains treatment, which is taxed at lower rates than ordinary income. As an investor, you could also benefit from depreciation and amortization, which reduce taxable income while still allowing your investment to grow. If you're in a high tax bracket, you may be attracted to the tax-exempt benefits of municipal bonds. These are issued by state and local governments, and they collect interest that is free from federal taxes. They may also be exempt from state and local taxes if you live in the issuing state. You might choose municipal bonds as a way to bring balance to your portfolio. In a shifting market, they could provide some diversity if you also hold stocks. Bonds generally provide steady returns, which could make them a smart choice for preserving capital. If you are a high-net-worth individual and are nearing retirement or seeking steady income with minimal tax exposure, you might consider municipal bonds. Introduced as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Opportunity Zones refer to a tax incentive program. They are designed to generate investment in economically distressed areas. If you are thinking about investing in Opportunity Zones, it can be helpful to be aware of the benefits they offer: By using a combination of investments and structures, high-income individuals can find ways to protect their wealth for their families and beyond. If you're an accredited investor, you might decide to use private equity and municipal bonds, or to invest in Opportunity Zones to reduce your tax liability. You'll need to work closely with a tax professional who is aware of your financial goals and can present options to you so you're able to make decisions that are best for your situation.
