An OPB/ProPublica investigation reported that Oregon has given affordable housing developers $1.4 billion while the cost of developing each apartment nearly doubled to $540,000, and that a state public-records exemption keeps itemized project financial details secret. HUD's January 2025 point-in-time count recorded 32,495 veterans experiencing homelessness, a 1.2% decline to a record low, with Oregon posting the largest raw increase at 228 added veterans. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman clashed over homelessness spending and policing in a general-election mayoral debate. July housing starts fell 12.4% to a 1.239 million annual rate while permits rose 5%. Plaintiffs' response to HUD's emergency motion to stay the Continuum of Care NOFO vacatur is due at 5:00 p.m. today in the First Circuit, which said it intends to rule promptly.
An OPB/ProPublica investigation reported that Oregon has given affordable housing developers $1.4 billion while the cost of developing each apartment has nearly doubled to $540,000, and that a state public-records exemption keeps itemized project financial details secret. The reporting said dozens of projects are lined up for an additional $850 million in future state funding, and that California and Washington publish comparable financial records.
Researchers found California was spending $300 million a year in development fees on subsidized housing, enough to have financed another 1,250 apartments annually.
Washington County's Department of Housing Services is implementing a pre-screening process for people referred to county-funded shelters and transitional housing within 1,000 feet of schools or day care facilities, checking for existing legal residency restrictions before assignment. County spokesperson Emily Roots said no one will be denied shelter and that people with restrictions will be referred to a different location; she said the process was developed with the sheriff's office and Community Corrections and had unanimous board support. The change follows concerns raised in April by Reeds Crossing neighbors about the Aloha Safe Rest Village's proximity to two elementary schools, though Roots said the policy was not created in response.
The Aloha Safe Rest Village, renamed Next Step Community, has been delayed by construction and is now expected to open this fall, with a good neighbor agreement still being worked out.
Gov. Tina Kotek pointed to an 11.3% increase in Oregon housing permits through June 30, as permitting in the rest of the country declined 1.3%, as evidence the state's housing decline is reversing. Willamette Week reported that permitting reached nearly 18,000 units in Kotek's first year, fell to fewer than 15,000 in each of the past two years, and remains below the 36,000-units-a-year target she set in her 2023 inaugural address, a target since lowered to 29,359 units.
The Oregon Nurses Association, which represents more than 25,000 nurses statewide, endorsed Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards for Multnomah County chair. Brim-Edwards has raised $162,503 this year, more than opponents Sharon Meieran and Shannon Singleton, whose committee has raised $23,095.
Brim-Edwards previously secured endorsements from all six county mayors and the Northwest Oregon Labor Council; seven Portland School Board members published a letter opposing her in July.
Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman held a general-election mayoral debate Wednesday night in Sherman Oaks, clashing over homelessness and policing. Raman said Bass has spent $400 million on Inside Safe while refusing audits and cited 8,000 beds she said were not being managed; Bass disputed Raman's per-room cost figures, saying county reimbursements offset them, and said homelessness declined in Raman's district because of Inside Safe.
State Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson gutted and amended SB 344, a dormant bill on scattering ashes at sea, to declare the Midway Rising redevelopment's environmental impact report in full compliance with CEQA, shielding the project from legal challenges under that law. The bill, co-sponsored by Mayor Todd Gloria and three construction trades councils, carries an urgency clause and awaits a final Assembly reading before the legislative session ends August 31. The project plans 4,254 residential units on 49.2 acres, including 2,000 units for households at or below 80% of area median income.
A companion bill, SB 958, barring building-height impacts from counting as significant under CEQA, is also on the Assembly floor; the city-developer lease deal is expected before the council's Land Use & Housing Committee on October 8.
The bipartisan California Big City Mayors coalition — including the mayors of San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland, Fresno and Long Beach — voted unanimously Wednesday to endorse Proposition 1, the Veteran and Housing Assistance Programs Bond Measure on the November ballot. Officials said the bond could enable 40,000 new affordable homes, preserve more than 5,500 existing affordable residences and create over 53,000 construction jobs.
The measure goes before voters in the November 2026 election alongside the gubernatorial and congressional midterms.
Chula Vista and Imperial Beach approved a two-year agreement letting Imperial Beach place eligible unsheltered residents in Chula Vista's 62-unit Village at Otay pallet shelter, with Imperial Beach reimbursing $90.60 per night per participant. The Chula Vista council approved it 4-1 Tuesday, with the dissenter citing a lack of regional and county involvement; Imperial Beach's council followed unanimously Wednesday. Chula Vista will also administer tenant-based rental assistance of up to 24 months on Imperial Beach's behalf.
The shelter has operated since May 2023 and served 210 people, with 39 exits to housing between July 2025 and June 2026.
Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello pitched a "Unified Regional Approach" to homelessness in which jurisdictions retain their own budgets and funding while coordinating through a shared data system, and said the model is deliberately unlike the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. Tacoma, which Mello said currently hosts 80% of homelessness services in the county, is weighing whether to join; several other cities have passed resolutions committing to collaborate.
Seattle and King County set a January 2027 timeline in August to take back $159 million in contracts from KCRHA.
Marcus Clark said he and all three of his children were hospitalized with respiratory problems while staying at the former Sleep Inn on Fallsway, a hotel Baltimore converted to a homeless shelter, after tests found more than 1,000 toxic mold spores in the family's room. Advocates including Rev. Christina Flowers called on Maryland's General Assembly to investigate conditions in the city's hotel shelters, which were purchased with more than $15 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The city Inspector General's office previously documented mold, mushrooms growing from carpets and non-functional ventilation across multiple rooms at the hotels.
A trash pile at a homeless encampment near Peachtree Creek under the Buford Highway Connector caught fire August 10, and Lindridge-Martin Manor residents demanded action from city and state leaders, with one resident counting three bridge fires along Cheshire Bridge Road in seven years. State Rep. Stacey Evans said jurisdiction over the site is shared between the city and state, and said the real long-term solution is addressing homelessness and affordable housing.
GDOT says it relies on Atlanta police to enforce Georgia's anti-camping law on state rights-of-way under a July 2022 memorandum of agreement with the city.
HUD's January 2025 point-in-time count recorded 32,495 veterans experiencing homelessness, 387 (1.2%) fewer than the previous year, with 25 states recording increases and 23 recording decreases. Oregon had the largest raw increase at 228 added veterans (16%), and California the largest decline, down 624 to 8,686. Community Solutions attributed the long-term decline to sustained federal housing and mental health investments dating to 2009.
Since 2010, veteran homelessness has fallen more than 56%; results from the January 2026 count have not been released.
Census Bureau and HUD data released Tuesday showed housing starts fell 12.4% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.239 million units, 13.5% below the July 2025 pace. Single-family starts fell 9.9% for the month to an 808,000 annual rate, and starts on buildings with five or more units measured 421,000, down 7.1% year over year. Building permits rose 5% to a 1.443 million annual rate.
The supply of new single-family homes stood at 9.3 months in June, against roughly 6 months in a balanced market.
Next City reported that Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Tulsa have adopted local versions of Clutch Consulting's Direct-to-Housing encampment model. Tulsa's unsheltered count fell 31% between 2025 and 2026, from 496 people to 339; Indianapolis's program has housed 220 people since June 2025; and Cleveland's has housed more than 200 since 2024, prompting its council to add $1.9 million to extend the program two years. Clutch reported that across nine adopting cities, roughly 85% of people engaged do not return to homelessness within a year.
Tulsa's unsheltered population nearly doubled between 2021 and 2024, to 534 people.
Freddie Mac · 2026-08-20 · Update — first covered 2026-08-14
Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 6.65% for the week ending August 20, down from 6.67% the prior week and the second consecutive weekly decline. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.95%, down from 5.96%.
A year ago, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.58%.
2026-08-21 — Plaintiffs-appellees' response to HUD's emergency stay motion due 5:00 p.m., First Circuit No. 26-1923 (NAEH v. HUD) (source)
2026-08-24 — HUD reply in support of its emergency stay motion due 5:00 p.m., First Circuit No. 26-1923; the court says it intends to rule promptly (source)
2026-08-28 — Appearance form and docketing statement due in First Circuit appeal No. 26-1923 (source)
2026-08-31 — House members return; vote expected on the Senate-amended CR funding the government through December 11 (source)
2026-08-31 — California legislative session ends; SB 344, declaring the Midway Rising EIR compliant with CEQA, awaits a final Assembly reading (source)
2026-09-08 — Comments due on HUD's proposed rescission of the 2024 floodplain and Federal Flood Risk Management Standard rules (source)
2026-09-14 — Comments due on HUD's CDBG-DR allocation formula notice (Docket No. FR-6337-N-02) (source)
2026-10-08 — Midway Rising lease deal expected before San Diego City Council's Land Use & Housing Committee (source)
2026-10-09 — Comments due on HUD's proposed amendments to the Fair Housing Act disparate-impact standard (source)
2026-12-11 — Federal funding expires under the Senate-passed CR, if enacted by the House (source)