Capital Square at Smith Hill has commercial spaces on the ground floor and 13 condominiums on the upper ones.

The Providence Journal / Andrew Dickerman

Like their counterparts in the for-profit world, Rhode Island’s nonprofit developers have an inventory problem.

Just a few years ago, there were waiting lists of people wanting to buy affordable housing, according to Brenda J. Clement, executive director of the Statewide Housing Action Coalition.

But today, many nonprofit community development agencies in Rhode Island have newly constructed properties waiting for buyers. Most of these projects were started at the height of the housing boom, when rising real estate values were pricing many working families out of the market.

The real estate downturn has even driven some local nonprofits to hire real estate agents to help sell their property — a course of action that would not have been considered in better times.

The nonprofit agencies build housing that is income restricted and designed to be affordable for low-income and moderate-income families.

Their definition of affordability is tied to the median area income. In many cases, buyers may not earn more than 80 percent of the area’s median income; in Providence, that means up to $41,000 per year for a single person; up to $46,850 for a two-person family; up to $52,700 for three people; and up to $58,550 for a family of four.

Some of the properties have tighter income restrictions. For instance, the new Riverside Townhomes in Olneyville built by the Olneyville Housing Corporation have two sets of limits. Buyers of the $140,000 units may earn up to 80 percent of the median income, but buyers of the $104,000 units can earn no more than 50 percent of median income.

Six of the 20 units have been sold, according to Frank Shea, executive director of Olneyville Housing. For the rental units in the development, the maximum income is even lower.

Many of the affordable properties also have deed restrictions to keep the housing affordable if it is sold again.

Clement said the same problems affecting the for-profit housing market are hurting the nonprofit sector: dampened buyer confidence due to a slide in prices and the foreclosure crisis, and the tightened credit market.

“The pendulum has swung the other way on credit,” Clement said. “More and more buyers are concerned, even buyers with relatively decent credit.”

It is more difficult and costly today to get private mortgage insurance, which many buyers need because they are unable to make a 20-percent down payment, Clement said. Shea said the City of Providence is now offering down payment grants to qualified buyers to help promote affordable home ownership.

“It’s not just the credit problem,” Clement added. “Buyers are skittish, banks are skittish, everybody is skittish.” Nervousness is compounded by the effects of the foreclosure crisis on the low-income neighborhoods where nonprofits typically build, Clement said

When people see boarded-up houses on a street, “they think, do I really want to buy in this neighborhood?” she said.

Capitol Square at Smith Hill, a mixed-use development at 231 Douglas Ave. in Providence, has been completed for a year. Although all the ground-floor commercial space is leased, none of the 13 condominiums have sold, according to Francis Smith of the Smith Hill Community Development Corporation.

“It’s a little bit surprising,” Smith said, because he expected it would be more difficult to rent commercial space than sell affordable housing.

Smith said his group has hired Residential Properties Ltd. to sell the condominiums, and the feedback has been that potential buyers are worried that property values will continue to drop.

Nonprofit groups have also been driven to cut their already-lean prices. Smith said the Capitol Square condominiums were originally priced at $235,000 for the three-bedroom units, but prices today range from $145,000 for a one-bedroom to about $180,000 for three-bedroom condos.

In the Elmwood section of Providence, the prices for the condominiums built in the renovated Victorian houses at 37-39, 48 and 52 Parkis Ave., have been cut. The top price, which had been $189,900, is now $170,000 (prices start at $129,000).

Seven of the 16 condominiums have been sold; three of the units have no income restriction, and others are limited to buyers at 60 percent and 80 percent of median income.

The Parkis Avenue project by Greater Elmwood Neighborhood Services also includes rentals, some market rate, and some income restricted.

In the Mount Hope section of Providence, 4 of the 9 units have sold at Abbott Court on Knowles Street, an affordable housing project developed by REACH, according to construction manager Carlo Ruggieri. The three-bedroom townhouses are priced at $164,900.

Kari Lang, executive director of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association, said the market downturn has slowed but not stopped progress on her agency’s planned mixed-use development at 1577 Westminster St.

The construction project has been named SWELL (for Shop, Work, Eat, and Live Locally). Lang said the ground-floor space is to be used by Urban Greens, a food cooperative market that is now housed in WBNA’s Westminster Street headquarters, a former gas station.

Original plans for SWELL called for four $150,000 condominiums on the top two floors. Demolition of the existing building on the site started last week.

The following is a list of affordable housing available for sale in the Providence area:

•Abbott Court, Knowles Street, Providence, 5 new 3-bedroom townhomes priced at $164,900. Contact Bill Siemers at REACH, (401) 723-8730.

•Riverside Townhomes, Curtis and Bosworth streets, Olneyville section of Providence, 14 townhouses available, priced at $104,000 and $140,000. Contact Jessica Vega, (401) 351-8719, ext. 104.

•In the West End of Providence, new two-family house at 117-119 Althea St., $160,000. Contact Jasmine Peters, (401) 453-3220, ext. 20. Also from West Elmwood Housing: new Energy Star-rated home at 173 Bellevue Ave., Providence. Rent to own for $1,200 a month.

•On Metacom Avenue in Bristol, Kane’s Way, two- and three-bedroom townhouses, $162,700 to $264,600. Contact Kerri Furtado at East Bay Community Development Corporation (401) 253-2080, ext. 1104.

•In Elmwood, newly renovated apartments in historic Victorian houses at 37-39, 48, and 52 Parkis Ave., Providence, priced from $129,000 to $170,000. Call (401) 455-0810.

•Capitol Square at Smith Hill, 231 Douglas Ave., Providence, 13 new townhomes, $145,000 to $180,000. Contact Christian Calderone, (401) 521-0159.

•In the West Side/Federal Hill section of Providence, two-bedroom condominiums are available at 1029 Westminster St., priced at $174,000. Contact Linda Weisinger at SWAP, Inc., (401) 272-0526, ext. 117.

•Callaghan Gardens, 46-48 Olive St. and 72-94 Barton St., Pawtucket, Energy Star rated two- and three-bedroom condos, $145,500 to $163,500. Contact Pawtucket Citizens Development Corporation, Marisol Rodriguez, (401) 726-1173, ext. 115.

•Early Street Townhomes at 209, 213 and 217 Early St., built by the Elmwood Foundation, 4 of the 10 new units are available, priced at $165,000. Contact Sylvia Acevedo at (401) 273-2330, ext. 106.

•A single-family house on West Avenue, in Pawtucket, was fully renovated and designed to be handicapped accessible; it is available for $175,000. Handicapped applicants are preferred. Contact Cindy Paliotto, (401) 723-4520, ext. 248, or Daisy Luciano, (401) 723-4520, ext. 264.

•For information on the SWELL project at 1577 Westminster St., Providence, contact Kari Lang at WBNA, (401) 831-9344. “All of this is going to shake out eventually,” Clement said. “We have houses that we need and want to get people into as soon as we can … It’s still potentially a good time to buy.”

For more information on individual properties, visit www.housingnetworkri.org