MassHousing Provides Nearly $1B for Affordable Housing in FY ’14
MassHousing, which is the housing agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, reports that it provided $985.2 million for affordable housing in the 2014 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2014. It was the second-largest lending year in the agency’s 48-year history.
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
Boston—MassHousing, which is the housing agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, reports that it provided $985.2 million for affordable housing in the 2014 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2014. It was the second-largest lending year in the agency’s 48-year history.
For affordable and mixed-income rental housing, MassHousing closed on $208.5 million in loans for 45 rental housing developments with 3,869 units in 26 places statewide during the year. Of those 45 apartment properties, 24 were new construction with 1,012 total units. Another 23 were existing rental housing properties with 2,857 units, at which affordable rents are being maintained and the properties renovated.
Multifamily developments that received loans from MassHousing ranged in size from 10 units (North Bellingham Veterans Home in Chelsea) to 500 units (Colonial Estates in Springfield). Rental housing loans ranged in size from $556,546 for the Brayton Hill Apartments in North Adams to $33 million to preserve the affordable Historic South End Apartments in the South End of Boston.
Of the $208.5 million in financing for rental housing, $174.5 million came from the sale of MassHousing bonds (for 17 developments with 1,922 units). The remaining $33.9 million came from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which is funded by the commonwealth and administered by MassHousing (for 28 developments with 1,947 units).
Also, the agency reports that it closed 3,456 loans ($766 million) to low- and moderate- income borrowers who purchased or refinanced a home in FY 2014. For loans used to purchase a home, the average purchase price was $237,576 and the average loan amount was $225,777, with an average household income was $75,470.
MassHousing makes its home mortgage loans through a network of more than 150 community banks and other home mortgage lenders. MassHousing has its own mortgage insurance fund, which, in addition to insuring MassHousing-financed loans, is often used by private sector lenders that provide their own affordable home loans. In FY 2014, MassHousing insured 47 of these loans valued at $10.6 million.
