Press Contact Only:
Margaret Matrone, NCHFA, 919-877-5606,
First-time homebuyers in Iredell County will find it easier to qualify for favorable interest rates from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. The agency’s board of directors has raised the sales price limits for home purchases that qualify under its low-cost mortgage programs.
“We’re working hard to keep home prices in line with the market,” said Lucius S. Jones, chairman of the board of directors and a home builder in Wendell, N.C. “We’ve been commissioning private studies in as many markets as we can, because the federal guidelines for the program have not been revised in almost a decade.”
In Iredell County, newly constructed homes costing up to $137,500 now qualify for the agency’s mortgages and Mortgage Credit Certificates, increased from the previous limit of $103,000. The maximum sales price for existing homes has been raised to $117,500 from $90,000.
The agency’s interest rates for 30-year, fixed-rate loans has been hovering at 6.125 percent. At that interest rate, a family could purchase a home costing $120,000 with a monthly principal and interest payment of $729. The monthly payment for a $110,000 home would be $668.
Limits on household income also apply. In Iredell County, first-time homebuyers qualify for the loans if their incomes are no greater than $50,000 for one-person households, $52,500 for households of two-person households, and $60,000 for households of three or more.
Families with substantially lower incomes may be eligible to receive up to $5,000 towards down payment and closing costs. This assistance is offered as a second mortgage at zero interest, which is deferred for 30 years, or until the home is sold.
The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages can be insured by FHA, VA, USDA or conventional mortgage insurance.
Participating lenders in Iredell County are: Mooresville—Countrywide Home Loans, 704-799-0700 and HCI Mortgage, 704-663-6415; and Statesville—BB&T, 704-838-8919; Bank of America, 704-873-8981; and Centura Bank, 704-871-3419.
More than 60,000 families have used the mortgages and the companion Mortgage Credit Certificates, including some 2,200 families last year. Funds for the mortgages are raised by the sale of tax-exempt bonds, under federal authority.
Current interest rates are listed daily on the agency’s Web page, www.nchfa.com.
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