Housing association launches new mortgage products

The Idaho Housing and Finance Association has two new loan products and a new down-payment assistance program. The products offered through the association’s IdaMortgage program target credit-worthy borrowers who do not meet standard financing requirements, the association said in a statement.

  A new 30-year, fixed-rate loan product is geared to credit-worthy borrowers with higher income levels who don’t meet the standard loan program requirements. A new 40-year fixed rate loan product is for credit-worthy borrowers who seek a lower monthly payment but don’t meet IdaMortgage’s standard loan program financing requirements.

  Interest rates for the new programs, which change daily, can be viewed at www.idamortgage.com. Rates stood at 6.09 percent for the new 30-year loan product and 6.65 percent for the 40-year product as of Feb. 27.

  Idaho Housing and Finance also just started offering “Good Credit Rewards,” a 30-year, second mortgage with a fixed interest rate. Homebuyers earning less than 140 percent of area median income can qualify for this down-payment assistance loan – which can go up to 102 percent or a maximum of 5 percent of the first-mortgage loan. Idaho Housing offers the second mortgage at 1 percent to 2 percent above IdaMortgage’s standard interest rate.

  Gerald Hunter, president and executive director of Idaho Housing and Finance, said the association exists to expand Idaho affordable-housing opportunities.

  “These new loan products will assure that many more families have the opportunity to have a place they can call home,” he said.

  Idaho Housing still offers its Home Investment Partnerships program. It provides down-payment and closing-cost assistance to first-time homebuyers in the form of deferred-payment, no-interest loans. The association can forgive the financial assistance over time if the homebuyer earns 80 percent or less of median family income.

  Idaho Housing and Finance partners with about 200 participating lenders and 74 mortgage brokers statewide to offer below-market interest rates.