Cost-Benefit Analysis of Affordable Homeownership in New York City

Habitat for Humanity New York City (Habitat NYC) serves low- and middle-income working families in New York City by building affordable and quality homes and rebuilding homes devastated by natural disasters. New York City has a long history of providing affordable housing to its residents, but affordable homeownership has been omitted from recent policy approaches. In order to raise awareness of the value in affordable homeownership, Habitat NYC engaged a Capstone team to conduct a data-driven research project on its benefits. Through the study’s findings, Habitat NYC hopes to increase funding and policy support for affordable homeownership as a key tactic in tackling the city’s housing crisis and also gain more investment in its current housing plan. The Capstone team reviewed existing literature to identify the academic and theoretical context of housing issues. Based on the data collected from affordable housing organizations and city databases, the team also conducted quantitative resear