Ohio Housing Finance Association announced this morning that it has temporarily suspended its popular down-payment grant program.
On the program’s Web page the issue is discussed.
As volatility in the financial market continues, offering a product that meets the needs of first-time homebuyers has become increasingly difficult. The ability to obtain capital to continue our programs is severely limited. Despite recent rate increases, program volume has continued at a pace that can not be sustained. It has become evident that down payment assistance, not interest rate, is the primary reason today’s homebuyers select an Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) mortgage.
The line “it has become evident that down payment assistance, not interest rate, is the primary reason” explains the entire situation to a “T”.
When the governement voted to eliminate down-payment assistance with FHA loans it left OHFA as the only game in town for first-time home buyers. Unfortunately, the pressure on OHFA was too much and the organization wasn’t able to hold up to the pressure.
OHFA is still a great program and a great organization and I commend it for stepping up to the plate and saying “no” when the situation became too strong. It is a sign of a well-run organization — unlike some that failed that continued to make promises as the money ran out.
As a buyer, this means one more time that YOU need to call your lender and ask a very simple question: “Am I still approved?”
Hello:
When will your down-payment grant program be offered again? We are not able to come up with the down-payment as a first time home buyer. We saw several houses that we wanted on Sunday,October 12,2008. The last house that we saw was too dark(no lights) to see. We had the house in mind. We were coming back to see the basement of the house on Wednesday, October 15,2008. The day before, 10-14-08, our agent had notified us that the down-payment grant program has been temporary suspended. I do not know if we will ever get a house.
Sincerely,
Marian Holland