Affordable housing presents a paradox. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates the nationwide shortage at 7.1 million affordable units, with the majority of states having 40 or fewer homes available per 100 extremely low-income renters.

Yet despite this high demand, new affordable product is increasingly difficult to build. Add up the potential impact of tariffs, high capital costs and an uncertain regulatory landscape, and affordable development becomes even hard to pencil out. But innovative state and local incentives, alongside nuanced advocacy, are getting hard-to-finance affordable developments off the ground.