MAY 31

Baltimore – In recognition of June as National Homeownership Month, the Maryland Mortgage Program is featuring the lowest interest rates in the program’s history on homes in Baltimore City and targeted neighborhoods around the state, Secretary Skinner announced today.

Effective immediately, qualified homeowners can get a reduced interest rate of 2.875 percent (APR 3.67 percent) on loans through the Maryland Mortgage Program. In addition, Maryland homebuyers of foreclosed properties in neighborhoods outside those targeted areas could qualify for Maryland Mortgage Program rates as low as 3.25 percent (APR 4.082 percent) through the state’s Save-a-Home program, Secretary Skinner said.

Secretary Skinner made the announcement in front of a home in Baltimore’s Barclay community. He was joined by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Sara Prammawat, a recent homebuyer who took advantage of Baltimore’s Vacant to Value and other homeownership incentives to move to the city from Howard County.

Maryland and local jurisdictions are working together to help qualified families obtain homeownership even as the national housing market is struggling to recover from the great collapse of 2007. The incentive programs help deserving families obtain their dream of homeownership while helping communities hard hit by foreclosures by moving foreclosed and vacant properties back onto the tax rolls more quickly.

For qualified buyers, the incentive programs make now a great time to buy a home thanks to low prices, interest rates at historic lows and significant downpayment and settlement cost assistance through numerous homeowner incentive programs. Learn more about those programs by visiting DHCD’s website at mdhousing.org.