The Newton Housing Development Corporation announced Thursday the hiring of Newton resident Janet Reents to fill the newly created position of executive director.

NHDC’s filling of the part-time position culminates a two-month search for the new director who is charged with mapping out foreclosed and dilapidated properties in Newton, locating the funding and grants to assist in their renovation and determining solutions to regulate the city’s housing market. Reents was hired from a pool of 15 candidates and said on Thursday that the nonprofit is looking forward to beginning the preliminary stages of high-end housing starts in Newton.

The NHDC is basing its work on a study conducted in December 2011 that compiled empirical data over housing starts in Newton, local income distributions and anecdotal input from a round-table of city residents and leaders covering how the community should move forward.