Ep. 11 Affordable Housing in New Mexico with Lisa Huval

What does affordable housing really look like at the state level?

In this episode of Housing Matters, we’re joined by Lisa Huval from the State of New Mexico and former Homewise team member. Lisa brings a unique perspective from both nonprofit and state work, giving insight into how housing initiatives are supported, funded, and expanded across New Mexico.

We talk about the biggest opportunities in housing right now, the role collaboration plays in making real impact, and what it takes for a housing program to actually succeed. It’s an honest, informative conversation about where we are—and where we can go—from here.

Learn more about us: 

https://www.housingtrustonline.org/

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

This is Housing Matters, the Housing Trust podcast, where we share stories and insights about affordable housing and making homeownership a reality. I'm your host, Roman Tiger Abeta. Welcome to another episode of Housing Matters. In this episode, we'll talk with Lisa Uval, State of New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions. Welcome, Lisa, to our show. Thank you for being on our podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

So much for having me here.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Yeah, no, this is great. Um so first of all, Lisa, tell us a little bit about yourself. And we'll get into like your experience with Homewise and now with Workforce Solutions, but start from the beginning, as far back as you want to go.

unknown 0:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Well, um, I'm originally from Massachusetts, but I've lived in New Mexico now for over 20 years. Um I came out here actually to get my master's degree in community and regional planning from UNM and really fell in love with Albuquerque in New Mexico. Also ended up meeting my husband right around the time that I was finishing um finishing up my master's degree. Um so I've been here ever since. I have two young kids um going to school here in Albuquerque, and I just really love this community in New Mexico. It's a beautiful place to live.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

So Lisa, you've worked both at the state level now and then previously with HomeWise. And how have those experiences shaped your perspective on housing?

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Yeah, it's an interesting question. And you know, before I worked at Homewise, I worked at the city of Albuquerque. And then before that, I worked at another nonprofit. So my career has really been moving between the public sector and then the nonprofit sector. And I think those experiences have really shaped my thinking and approach to the work because I really understand like sort of the constraints that both of those sectors are working on. And I think that sometimes, you know, folks in government don't always understand kind of what nonprofits are facing. And also nonprofits can think like, oh, government folks, you have like unlimited resources and should be able to do more and don't always understand kind of the constraints that government's operating under. So I think it's helped me be a good liaison between those two sectors.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

I would agree. I've I've worked in both uh public and private myself. Yeah. And but I had never worked private before. It was always just public, and so I really didn't have an appreciation for the private side, and like you said, the nonprofit side and uh exactly having to make payroll every two weeks, having to get a reimbursement request done timely. Um but exactly you're with uh Department of Workforce Solutions, and so people that would see our episode or tune into it be like, what does Department of Workforce Solutions have to do with housing? So can you explain that to us, like what the connection is?

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Absolutely, yes. And the governor made the decision to move the Office of Housing to the Department of Workforce Solutions last year, and there were a few reasons for that. I mean, there really is a link between housing and workforce, and in a couple different ways. I mean, one is that we really we need a strong workforce to build housing. That's one of the challenges to meeting the housing supply need in New Mexico. And we need lots of safe, modestly priced homes to attract a strong, to have a strong workforce here in New Mexico. We need that so people stay here, but we also need that so folks want to come and move to New Mexico and help build our economy. So I think there's really linkages on both sides. And we feel like this is a good home for the Office of Housing.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

That now that you explained it, that does make sense. You're right. You could come to work in New Mexico or try to recruit people to come to work to New Mexico, but if they don't, if they can't afford to live here, they can't afford to buy a home. And what I'm reminded of is I know my experience on the school board, we've lost teachers or principals or even coaches. There's a story of last year when I I think a coach was offered a position with one of the high schools, accepted the position, came to Santa Fe to look for a place to live, and was like, nope, I can't afford the I can't afford rent or buy a house here. So sorry.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

Um absolutely when we talk about wanting people to stay in New Mexico too, like being able to buy a home here is like a huge um reason for people to stay for people to stay. And that's true for me. You know, part of the reason I chose to stay in Albuquerque is because this was an affordable place to buy a home, or at least it was when I bought my home. You know, unfortunately prices are going up. But yeah, there's definitely a link there.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

Well, and it it is becoming a a statewide problem. Again, with my background similar to yours, I worked in planning and land use for Santa Fe County. I first started in like the early 90s, and Santa Fe was just kind of getting popular then. Like I remember when they were first bringing in Las Campanas, and it was like, well, what kind of impact is that gonna have? And home prices started going up, and and Santa Fe quickly became there became more an emergency in Santa Fe when it came to housing. And the response was Rio Rancho. People started moving from Santa Fe to Rio Rancho. But today, though, this is becoming a statewide problem, not just a Santa Fe problem. Rio Rancho, we've talked with the city there, and they're kind of starting to say it's even getting kind of pricey here. Of course, Albuquerque, Los Alamos. So it seems like it's it's it started in Santa Fe and it's expanding out to the rest of the state. So this really is a statewide problem, not just a Santa Fe problem.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

I agree with that.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

And so, Lisa, what what is your current role at the state involve?

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Well, my title is Housing Initiative Manager. Um, you know, the Office of Housing has received about $150 million in appropriations over the last two years for housing and homelessness projects across the state. So a big part of my role is helping to deploy some of those funds out into the community or really out across the state to different affordable and attainable housing projects. And you know, then once those contracts are in place to work closely with developers to make sure that they're meeting the terms of their agreements and that they're spending down the funds per the timelines and the deadlines that are attached to those funds and just making sure they have the support that they need to be successful.

SPEAKER_02 6:25

And what what is good about Santa Fe and Santa Fe having to deal with this earlier rather than than later is that a lot of things have been tested and tried.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

And so um your experience at Homewise obviously has been helpful with the state where no, no, this is how we can ensure that that this money is protected and these projects are built. And I think of like the silent second mortgage that gets put on a house. So eventually that money does get paid back and all and recycled again. And again, that's a city of Santa Fe process that they put in place years ago and something that Homewise and the housing trusts became experts at using.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, my time my experience with Homewise, I was there about three years, has is serving me really well in this role. Um, one, because I I did lead the real estate development team at Homewise for a couple of years. So just really understanding, learning how the development process works and what the challenges are. Um, I think now that I'm in this role, I feel better prepared to help um when I can to help mitigate or reduce some of those obstacles. Um, but also I have a good understanding kind of all the different mechanisms that are out there to ensure affordability and to make sure that these public dollars are spent the way that they're intended to really create more affordable housing.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

And can you tell us, give us like specific examples of how you can spend these dollars? As you said it's 150 million?

SPEAKER_00 7:54

It's 150 million. These are different and it's different pots of money. Some of that includes the um 110 million that was appropriated last year for um housing and homelessness projects across the state generally, although some of those funds have been designated for Albuquerque or Bernalillo County in Las Cruces. There's other pots of money that are that the legislature appropriated money to that are more specific to homelessness programs like helping to address encampment and things like that. So different pots of money that we're helping to get out the door.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

And so there's a whole spectrum of housing that you're dealing with. Like in my company, we build affordable housing or help people buy houses for so we deal with the homeowner, but you're talking homelessness, rental, everything from homelessness to owning a home.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

Yeah, it's actually, I think one of the really fun things about this role is getting to really support all parts of the housing spectrum. You know, we do have um, we we got some money out the door the door to help um shelters increase their capacity to serve to keep people safe and warm during the winter months. You know, we've have funded a supportive housing project specifically for people experiencing homelessness with disabilities. You know, we we've have funded homeownership projects, we've funded large multifamily projects. So it's really kind of cool like what the role that the Office of Housing is playing in supporting all these different really important components of our housing system.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

What would you say are the biggest opportunities right now for expanding housing access?

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Yeah, I I I've been thinking about that question. You know, I I think the biggest issue in New Mexico around housing is supply. We don't have enough housing to meet the need, and that's true for rental housing, and that's true for homeownership housing too. I think we're seeing other states around us make progress in terms of passing legislation that makes it easier to build housing. So, you know, things like making it easier to build duplexes or townhomes and single family residential zones, making it easier to do accessory dwelling units, just making things more um administrative approval rather than going through a public body. And it's, you know, I think we're seeing a lot of other states do that with success and they're seeing the results. Um so I think it's cool that we're in a as a state, we're in a position we're not we're not the trendsetters here, we're not trying to recreate the wheel. We can look to what's happening around us to do some of those things here in New Mexico to make it easy easier and faster, more cost effective and more predictable to build housing.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

But you are the state, and a lot of what you just talked about is something that's controlled by cities and counties. And so that, and from based on again, my experience here at the housing trust, that's kind of the frustrating part is I could have really good access to funding from the state, but I've got to go through the city process to get the permit to build a house. And so there needs to be collaboration between not just nonprofits uh and the state, but also cities and and county. And so what's been your experience with working with cities and counties? Have they been receptive to what you're doing at a state level? Because I know sometimes cities and counties will get frustrated and be like, you're putting all this pressure on us to do this, and we have our own systems in place and our rules, and we're the city, we're not the state. So yeah, what has been your have they been receptive to what's happening?

SPEAKER_00 11:21

I mean, yes, on the on the funding side, absolutely. You know, we have quite a few what we call intergovernmental agreements or IGAs with different um cities across the state to fund affordable housing projects um in their communities, and then they're turning around and entering into agreements with the developers in their communities to build affordable housing. So I think they're they've been really excited about this opportunity to access additional funds to support affordable housing projects in their in their community. I mean, you know, land land use policies that make it easier to build housing are important, but as you know, the subsidy that helps bring down the cost of constructing housing is also equally important because the cost of construction is so high that there's just this huge gap between what people can, modest income people can afford to purchase or afford to rent. And these subsidies in the form of public dollars are really really important for uh eliminating that gap.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

Absolutely. The one thing I learned here at the housing trust, because again, we help people with both down payment assistance to buy a house, but we also try to construct houses ourselves. And even if we have the city or county approvals, we can't control and it's fast, not that it is, but even if it was, if it was. Yeah, like you said though, we we can't control what they're charging for concrete or lumber, right, or what's happening with tariffs or not happening with tariffs or with the with the supply chain or whatever's going on, uh we we have no control of that. And as a as a developer of affordable houses, too, I can't go to a a supplier and tell them, hey, these are affordable homes, so charge me last for the concrete, or charge me last for wood, or charge. They're like they still have their the cost is the same, whether it's a market rate or yeah. So the state money has really made a huge difference. Like we have a subdivision, Arroyo Esteb, we two phases, 20 homes in each phase. We got the the first phase taken care of, and we were able to use the market rate homes to help pay for the affordable, and we did 12 market rate, and then with that, we were able to offer eight affordables, and we weren't sure if we were gonna be able to do phase two and and and replicate that model because even with the 12 market rates, with the prices of construction going up, like you said, and materials going up, we were like, I don't even know if that's gonna that's gonna be we're gonna be able to pull that off with this phase, but then in steps, the state and this money, and as a result, because you're covering those helping with those construction costs, all 20 are gonna be affordable, not just one.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

And that's that's pretty exciting.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

It's amazing, and and the timing was great because it was like this happened that we were shovel ready and not sure what to do. And here comes Lisa to save the day, and Secretary Nair. From your experience, what makes a housing initiative truly successful?

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Yeah, it's a really good question. I mean, you know, I think at this point it's getting any housing project built is just an incredibly complex endeavor. You know, multiple funding sources, you need support from the community where you're building the project. So it's a big part of it is really strong collaboration between all of these different entities that can support the project, whether it's a funding entity or the local government. I also think it takes a really strong developer, whether that's a nonprofit or a for-profit partner, um, that is able to really navigate these very complex challenges to uh ultimately produce more homes for the community.

SPEAKER_02 15:04

So at the time that we're recording this, Lisa, we just wrapped up the 2026 legislative session. Do you think that we're gonna continue with this momentum as far as funding and housing goes, or do you think it's gonna slow down? Or what are what are your what are your thoughts? I mean, we we hear from these candidates now for governor and their affordable housing, affordable housing is still still seems to be on the the uh the front burner, but is that that's just my what's yours from a state perspective? What's your yeah?

SPEAKER_00 15:33

I mean, I think the momentum is still going. I mean, we're especially if we're talking about investment of public dollars and affordable housing. You know, the um the Office of Housing received another $30 million appropriation out of the general fund to support housing and homelessness projects, um, as well as $26 million in capital outlay funding. This is all in House Bill 2, the budget bill that passed, you know, Housing New Mexico, also known as MFA, received another $50 million in above and beyond what they normally get for the New Mexico Housing Trust Fund. Um so these huge amounts of money, which is really exciting. We also saw passage of House Bill 200, which was a homewise bill, to create a new down payment assistance program that's connected to newly constructed starter homes, which I think is really exciting because that is a huge issue in our state is the lack or the really limited supply of starter homes that's making it really hard for first-time home buyers to get their foot in the door of home ownership. So I definitely think the momentum's there in terms of funding. You know, the Office of Housing um also supported several bills related to making it easier to build housing. Um, unfortunately, those those bills didn't get very far. So I think that's the places where as a state we still have a lot of work to do.

SPEAKER_02 16:49

And what what's the one thing people across New Mexico should understand about housing challenges we're facing?

SPEAKER_00 16:55

But I think the big thing is that this is a supply issue. This is a basic supply and demand issue. Costs are high because there's not enough homes. Um, and that includes rental homes and homeownership homes. So if we're going to solve the affordability crisis when it comes to housing, we need more homes. We need we need to do things to make it easier to build those homes.

SPEAKER_02 17:15

Yeah, and I and I think also when we are talking about building homes, and one thing the state has recognized it's it's not just the concrete and the the wood and the framing and the roofing, it's the roads, the water lines, the sewer lines, the infrastructure to get there. That's part of it too. And and the funds can be used for infrastructure also, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:35

Oh, yes, yes, they can. Funds we've received up until this point, we've used some for infrastructure costs. And I think that will be the case going forward as well.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

And the down payment assistance is is very helpful also because the one thing we talk about a lot in our episodes here is when you go get a mortgage, even if it's affordable, they'll only lend you 80% of whatever that purchase price of the home is. And so the the homeowner still has to come up with 20%. And that could be $20,000, $10,000, $30,000.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

A huge amount of money.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

It's a big amount of money, really. And so it's so it's not just a supply issue, also, it's helping people buy the home with down payment assistance.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

Yeah, exactly exactly.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

But like I said, there's there's good examples with the city of Santa Fe uh of how we could do that. And the federal government also has a CDBG program where you could use those funds for down payment assistance. So there is there are examples, and so we don't have to reinvent the wheel, like you you said, and then also there's other states.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

Yeah, I agree that I think the city of Santa Fe does have a really great model for how to do the down payment assistance in a way that carries on too, that continues to serve future home buyers. So, like you say, you don't need to create recreate the wheel, we just need to do more of what's working.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

So, Lisa, thank you for for being uh a guest on our housing matters podcast. And we we close every show with one last question, and that is having to do with our title. Why does housing matter to you?

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Yeah. Well, generally speaking, I think housing is the foundation for thriving, healthy families. Like we all need a safe place to an affordable place to live to to thrive, whether at work or at school. And um, you know, for my own family, like access to housing has been huge. You know, my parents, when they were in their early 20s, were able to buy a piece of land for not too much money, built a very modest house, added to it over the years, you know, sold their house a couple of times, recently sold their house for the last time, and you know, are gonna going to use those funds to help pay for some care that my dad needs. So I, you know, and you just look at like how what housing did for my family. You know, something we all need and hope to help others have.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

Well, Lisa, that's all for this episode, Housing Matters. Lisa, thanks again.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

Yeah, thank you for so much for having me on. This was fun.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

Thank you for listening to Housing Matters, the Housing Trust podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review. To learn more about our work and the latest at the Housing Trust, visit housingtrustonline.org. If you are interested in partnering with us or supporting our mission, we'd love to hear from you. You can find our contact information on our website.