Nearly 9,500 home mortage loans totaling $429.5 million to first-time home buyers have been made by the Illinois Housing Development Authority, the state`s housing finance agency, since it began providing low-interest, single- family home mortgages in 1983, according to an authority report.
Of those mortgages, 2,885 worth $149 million have gone to Cook County home buyers, the report said.
”Since the inception of IHDA`s low-interest, single-family home mortgage programs three years ago, thousands of Illinois home seekers, who might otherwise not have been able to purchase homes, have realized the dream of affordable home ownership,” said James W. Kiley, the authority`s director.
Although interest rates on conventional home mortgages have declined in recent months, an IHDA home loan is still a bargain, Kiley said when he issued the report this week.
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”Interest rates on conventional loans are hovering around 10.5 percent,” he noted. ”Our most recent mortgage program, called the Build Illinois Low Interest Mortgage Program, offers an interest rate of 9.8 percent.
”That means that with a current IHDA loan, a first-time home buyer can save $36,749 over the life of a $50,000 loan,” he said.
The authority makes fixed-rate, 30-year loans for as much as 95 percent of the purchase price of a home. In addition to offering below-market interest rates, the agency also charges lower closing costs–usualy 1 1/2 to 2 points less–than conventional lenders.
The authority`s current mortgage program has been in effect since November. At the time, the agency made an additional $275 million available to qualified home buyers through 82 banks and savings and loans throughout the state.
Several of the banks and savings and loans still have money available, Kiley said. Home buyers can find out the names of the institutions by calling the authority`s toll-free Home Line at 1-800-942-8439.
To qualify for such a loan, applicants must be first-time buyers with a gross annual household income of no more than $55,300, he said.
In addition, applicants must agree that the home they propose to buy will be used as their principal residence. Furthermore, they must have an executed purchase contract for the home and be prepared to make a minimum downpayment of 5 percent of the purchase price.