Housing division OK’d to sell $75 million in bonds

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2000 | 9:49 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Housing Division has received approval to sell up to $75 million in bonds in the next six months to help finance 640 homes for low- and moderate-income families.

Division Director Charles Horsey told the state Board of Finance there is a demand for housing loans as shown by a survey of 32 financial institutions in Nevada. The study showed prospective homeowners want to borrow $28.2 million right now. Come spring, that is expected to increase another $33.8 million, he said.

Horsey and Lon DeWeese, the chief financial officer for the agency, estimated the interest rate on the loans will be 7.75 percent to 8 percent, or about three-quarters of a percent below the conventional rate. The firm rate won't be established until the bonds are sold. The lower rate, DeWeese said, could save a buyer up to a "couple of hundred dollars a month."

The recent rise in interest rates, Horsey said, means there could be a large gap between the state's housing rate and those in private industry.

The division will sell about $30 million of the bonds within the next month or two and the rest in the spring, when the housing demand usually increases.

Horsey told the board that the 25-year-old program has financed some 17,000 single family homes. A family of three to be eligible must earn below $59,455. And the maximum income for a family of one or two is $51,700 to participate in the program.

The average loan in the program is $108,000 but it can go higher in certain cases, Horsey said. The maximum price for a qualifying house in Clark County is $135,888.