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The End of The Line For Nehemiah?
The Sacramento Bee reports this morning that the end may be very near for the Nehemiah program. Included in the housing bill just passed by the U.S. Senate is a provision eliminating the popular down payment assistance program. The House votes later this week but is expected to go along with the Senate and President Bush.
It isn’t clear how quickly this would take effect. Loans in process are often given a reasonable period to close, and buyers pre-approved but not yet in Contract may be given a deadline by which they must successfully entered into Contract for the purchase of a home.
Recent figures on real estate sales activity showed that 85% of the sales closing in Sacramento involved homes under $350,000. Many buyers are using FHA and Nehemiah to help them cover the down payment and closing costs. While buyers can continue to use a seller credit to help cover closing costs, the loss of Nehemiah would mean that buyers would have to save cash for a down payment or secure a gift from family members. This could throw a wet blanket over the recovering Sacramento real estate market and slow the absorption of the inventory of bank owned properties for sale.
Stay tuned…..
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Please visit www.dpagroundswell.org to write to your elected officials in support of DPA reform. We have to keep downpayment assistance alive for the thousands of homebuyers that are not fortunate enough to have a savings, but still deserve a home.