Barriers to housing on border targeted

Special home financing and loan considerations are available for low- to moderate-income minority families in Arizona's border counties.

The Arizona Border Initiative aims to help immigrants, migrant farm workers and American Indians in Pima, Cochise, Santa Cruz and Yuma counties find good-quality affordable housing.

It brings together Fannie Mae and several local lenders to offer new ways to finance housing and improve rental properties.

"Our ultimate goal is to close the homeownership gap," said Elisa de la Vara, director of Fannie Mae's Arizona Partnership Office. "The national homeownership rate is 68 or 69 percent, but for minorities it's about 45 percent. We want to reduce that gap substantially."

The initiative was announced yesterday at South Tucson's City Hall.

Family Housing Resources has partnered with CitiMortgage to create the Arizona Homebuyer Solutions Second Mortgage Loan Program, which loans home buyers the funds for a down payment and closing costs while providing a market-rate first mortgage.

"Having safe, quality, affordable housing is the American dream, and this initiative demonstrates our commitment to help improve the lives of families living in the border region," said Jim Feltham, president and chief executive of FHR.

The initiative is part of Fannie Mae's national American Dream Commitment to encourage the investment of $130 billion in targeted underserved rural regions across the country.

"The Arizona border region is one of the nation's fastest-growing areas, with rapid population increases that significantly strain the supply of housing," de la Vara said. "We are eager to take on the tough housing challenges in these communities, including language barriers, aging housing stock and low incomes."

New housing initiatives announced yesterday include:

A pilot program that eliminates as much as $5,000 in unpaid medical collections in determining credit worthiness for a conventional mortgage loan.

A pilot program to allow borrowers to contribute labor, or sweat equity, to pay up to 25 percent of a home's purchase price.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture program that will allow borrowers to receive 100 percent financing for a manufactured home with no money down and no mortgage insurance.

Low Income Housing Tax Credits will be made available to help developers acquire and rehabilitate rental properties.

Fannie Mae will work with public agencies in the border region to help them leverage existing funds with private-sector dollars to boost their financial capacity for new and revitalized housing stock.

Training on the new programs will be made available to local lenders, nonprofits and real estate professionals. Bilingual, Web-based counseling software created by Fannie Mae will be made available to local nonprofits.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.