Freddie Mac, National Bank of South Carolina, S.C. Association of Community Development Corporations Launch First-Time Homebuyer Effort in S.C.

CHARLESTON-- A new first-time homeowner

initiative for families is underway in parts of South Carolina, thanks to

several public and private organizations working together to offer

homeownership counseling, workshops and a variety of mortgage products. The

announcement will be made during the 2005 Housing & Community Economic

Development Summit in Charleston.

Under this initiative, Freddie Mac, the South Carolina Association of

Community Development Corporations (SCACDC) and the National Bank of South

Carolina will help families become homeowners in Columbia, Sumter and

Florence, S.C.

"The South Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations

(SCACDC) is delighted to welcome Freddie Mac and the National Bank of South Caolina to the community economic development movement," said Bernie Mazyck,

President & CEO of the South Carolina Association of CDCs. "Our efforts to

build wealth among working families in underserved communities is strengthened

with the addition of these two strong corporate participants."

"Homeownership is the largest source of long-term wealth for many families

and the path to owning a home begins with understanding the mortgage process,"

said Craig Nickerson, vice president of Expanding Markets for Freddie Mac.

"The goal is to help more families overcome the key barriers to homeownership

such as impaired credit, inadequate resources for down payment and lack of

information about the home buying process. We look forward to working with the

South Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations and the

National Bank of South Carolina to help more people become homeowners."

SCACDC will work with its local members -- Benedict Allen Community

Development Corporation (CDC), Sumter County CDC and Eastern Carolina CDC --

to identify individuals who are interested in pursuing homeownership, as well

as offer Freddie Mac's CreditSmart financial education curriculum.

Participants will learn about budgeting, credit, the home buying process, and

maintaining and keeping a home.

The CDCs also offer Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) -- a special

savings account in which the CDC will match 3:1 an individual's deposit, up to

$3,000, to help low-income residents save money for a home.

A major tool within the housing initiative is Freddie Mac's new Home

Possible suite of mortgage products, offered through the National Bank of

South Carolina. The Home Possible mortgage features low down payments and

flexible credit requirements. Freddie Mac will buy eligible mortgage from the

banks.

"At the heart of our customer covenant is a deep sense of personal

integrity, good financial stewardship and extraordinary dedication to our

customers. By working with Freddie Mac and the CDC's in Columbia, Sumter and

Florence through the Home Possible mortgage programs, we will help more

families become homeowners," said National Bank of South Carolina's Alan

Whitecross, Senior Vice President. "For 100 years we have been making

financial dreams come true, and we are excited about the opportunity to make

the dream of home ownership become a reality for many more families in S.C."

Today's launch builds on Freddie Mac's efforts to expand affordable

homeownership in the metropolitan South Carolina area. Over the past five

years, Freddie Mac -- one of the nation's largest residential mortgage

investors -- has purchased $26 billion worth of mortgages in the South

Carolina area, financing 223,000 homes.

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned company established by Congress in 1970

to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac fulfills its mission

by purchasing residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it

finances primarily by issuing mortgage-related securities and debt instruments

in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for

one in six homebuyers and nearly four million renters in America.

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.