Hi Desert Real Estate Forum

Under a California initiative aimed to help prospective homeowners with modest means, lenders including Wells Fargo, HomeEq, CitiMortgage, and Fannie Mae will price their foreclosed properties at 12 percent below market value.

The California Housing Finance Agency will offer 30-year loans at a fixed interest rate of 5.5 percent to first-time home buyers who purchase the foreclosed properties through the Community Stabilization Home Loan Program.

"This is a starting point to try to get some of these foreclosures off the market in some of the hardest-hit communities in the state," says Ken Giebel, marketing director for the California Housing Finance Agency. He expects more lenders to join the program.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, Carolyn Said (07/22/08)

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