Mortgage bonds approved

CARSON CITY -- The state Board of Finance Tuesday authorized the issuance of $35 million in single family mortgage bonds to provide money for loans to low- and median-income families to buy homes.

Lon DeWeese, chief financial officer for the state Housing Division, told the board "we're on the last leg of our present amount." He estimated there is less than $8 million left.

"We go through a couple of million dollars a week," he said.

Elaine Moore, the loan administrative officer of the division, said a family of three with a gross annual income of $57,270 or less would qualify for a housing loan if they had not owned a home in the past three years.

In Clark County, the family would qualify to purchase a new home with a price tag of up to $132,385 or an existing home for $124,365. The last time bonds were sold, the prospective home buyers paid an interest rate of 6.44 percent on a 30-year loan.

Moore said those who seek the loans must go through the normal credit check requirements and pay a $100 fee which is refunded if the loan transaction is complete.

DeWeese estimated that $55 million has been loaned out so far this year from the program started in the mid 1970s.

The board also agreed to issue up to $8.5 million in mortgage revenue bonds to build a 152-unit apartment in Spanish Hills in Sparks.

While the apartment vacancy rate -- now about 9 percent -- has been climbing in Washoe County, DeWeese said there is still a lack of affordable housing in the area.

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