SEATTLE (NewsNation Now) — Amazon announced it will provide $300 million in low-interest loans to create new, affordable housing units. It’s part of the company’s $2 billion housing equity fund, which it says will equate to about 20,000 homes.

America’s housing supply is more dire than previously expected, according to a new report from The National Association of Realtors.

They called for immediate action to fix what it calls an enormous supply and demand gap. The report blames “decades of underinvestment and underbuilding.”

The largest amount, $125 million, is earmarked for the nation’s capital region, where Amazon is building a second headquarters that will support 25,000 jobs, the company announced Wednesday.

Amazon’s second headquarters is being built in the Crystal City neighborhood of northern Virginia, which is served by Metrorail and other forms of mass transit.

Amazon also has dedicated $100 million to create 1,200 new affordable housing units near light rail stations across the Puget Sound region.

“Amazon’s commitment of $100 million is going to go a long way in making sure that we can keep that commitment and keep these neighborhoods affordable for folks,” Peter Rogoff, CEO of Sound Transit, said.

The company is developing property near its stations in the Seattle area for up to 1,200 units.

“Those units are not just individual one-bedrooms,” Rogoff said. “They can be up 2-3 bedrooms that can allow for working family to be a block away from transit.”

Another $75 million in below-market loans is earmarked for the creation of an estimated 800 affordable homes in Nashville on privately owned land within a half-mile of WeGo transit corridors.

For more information on the program: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/community/amazons-housing-equity-fund/