Friday, February 19, 2016
New Mortgage Program Big Boost for Detroit Buyers (Clinton, Ford Foundations)
A new program to help Detroit home buyers finance purchases will guarantee 1,000 mortgages in a city where banks have been skittish about lending because of deeply depressed property values, Mayor Mike Duggan, bankers and charitable foundation leaders said Thursday.
Called the Detroit Home Mortgage, the program will offer traditional first and second mortgages from five banks that lend to home buyers in metro Detroit. The mortgage program is designed to address one of the biggest hurdles to home ownership in the city: home sale prices that are higher than appraised values, a gap that makes it difficult for people to get mortgages, no matter their income or credit score, Duggan said at a news conference also attended by Gov. Rick Snyder
Duggan said 3,000 homes were sold in Detroit in 2015, and only about 500 involved mortgages. . .