Hamilton Herald Masthead

Editorial


Front Page - Friday, June 8, 2018

Tennessee Realtors joins THDA effort to break homeownership month record




Tennessee Realtors is pledging to help the Tennessee Housing Development Agency celebrate homeownership month by topping the agency’s record for home loans for the month of June.

The Great Choice Home Loan program allows Realtors and lenders to offer their clients the option of financial assistance toward down payment and closing costs on their home purchase.

“Tennesseans who dream of someday buying their first home are finding that THDA’s mortgage loans and down payment assistance can make it a reality, and often, it’s their REALTOR who’s able to bring that good news to their attention,” says Ralph Perrey, executive director of THDA.

In the wake of Gov. Bill Haslam declaring this month to be homeownership month, THDA and Tennessee Realtors are aiming for no less than a new all-time best June for THDA home loan volume, which would require a 54-percent increase over last year.

“With the help of our Realtor partners, THDA has already set new records this year for our best-ever January, March, April and May, finally eclipsing the 2007 numbers from before the financial crisis,” Perrey says. “Even so, breaking our June record will be a monumental climb.”

“THDA’s production numbers are phenomenal, and they’re providing real momentum to our members in the field,” says Leon Dickson, Sr., 2018 president of Tennessee Realtors.

Under the Hardest Hit Fund Down Payment Assistance program, THDA is offering $15,000 in down payment assistance to qualified homebuyers who purchase an existing home in a designated ZIP Code that lags behind the rest of the state in terms of foreclosures, property value gains and other measures. These ZIP Codes represent well over half of THDA’s statewide home loan volume to date this year.

“We expect to surpass 2,000 home loans for the year by the end of June,” Perrey adds. “It was only three or four years ago when 2,000 home loans would be a year’s worth of production for us. We’re very grateful to our Realtor partners for helping make these numbers possible because our success depends on them.”

THDA anticipates funding for the $15,000 program will be exhausted by late summer.

Information: www.GreatChoiceTN.com

Source: THDA