AUSTIN, TX – August 26, 2008 – (RealEstateRama) — Recognizing that homeownership is the key to creating stable families and communities, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has announced a funding award to an Austin-based nonprofit organization assisting eligible residents with the purchase of their first home.
TDHCA awarded $240,000 in homebuyer assistance funds to the Austin Affordable Housing Corporation, a local nonprofit promoting homeownership and homebuyer education, to help 24 qualifying households purchase a home of their own.
“While the Austin economy continues to outperform the national economy, the local housing market has unfortunately outpaced the income of many area residents,” said Michael Gerber, TDHCA Executive Director. “These funds will help families overcome the biggest obstacle many homebuyers face: meeting the down payment requirements. Promoting homeownership is a critical mission of the Department, as it helps to place families on the road toward financial success, creates more cohesive neighborhoods, and increases the local tax base.”
This homebuyer assistance award was made through the Department’s Housing Trust Fund, portions of which help provide qualifying first time homebuyers with down payment and gap financing. Assistance comes in the form of a zero percent interest, 10-year deferred forgivable loan. All participants in the program must go through homebuyer counseling, and the maximum loan amount per homebuyer is $10,000.
The Housing Trust Fund is the Department’s only affordable housing program to receive funding from state revenue for the acquisition, rehabilitation and new construction of housing to serve low income Texans. Eligible applicants include qualifying nonprofits, units of local government, public housing authorities, eligible nonprofit housing organizations, and certain for-profit entities.
Under Housing Trust Fund rules, funds may be used to serve households earning no more than 80 percent of the area median family income. For Austin and Travis County, this equals an annual income of $56,900 for a family for four.
About The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs is Texas’ lead agency responsible for affordable housing, community services, energy assistance, and colonia housing programs. The Department annually administers more than $400 million through for-profit, nonprofit, and local government partnerships to deliver local housing and community-based opportunities and assistance to Texans in need.
Contact:
Gordon Anderson 512.475.4743
Jill McFarren 512.475.2844
