JUNE 28

State housing finance agencies such as DHCD are helping fuel the recovery of the nation’s housing market through programs such as Maryland’s Downpayment and Settlement Expense Loan Program, Bloomberg News is reporting.

States are helping qualified homebuyers by making grants and loans to cover costs such as origination fees, third-party appraisals. Those efforts – coupled with historic low interest rates and dramatic drops in home prices since their peak in July 2006 – is making now a great time to buy for an increasing number of homebuyers, Bloomberg reports in a June 28 story, Housing Rebound Accelerated by State Agencies: Mortgages.

Bill Ariano, deputy director of DHCD’s community development administration, told the financial news service that Maryland expects to lend over $300 million in 2012, a 30 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. For many potential buyers, the state’s generous downpayment and settlement costs assistance can remove the number one barrier to homeownership. Learn more about opportunities for homebuyers through the Maryland Mortgage Program.

Bloomberg’s story noted that states such as Maryland are able to lower rates and raise money for the of downpayment assistance programs by bundling mortgages into securities for sale to investors. These Mortgage-Backed Securities generally are rated double-A by Moody’s Investors Service and are “very solid,” Bloomberg reported.