ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Good News for Home Buyers

Orange County’s booming housing market has meant good news for those who already own a home but increasing problems for residents trying to qualify for mortgages to buy their first house and come up with the monthly payments. Now some relief, welcome though limited, is in sight.

Last week the Federal National Mortgage Assn., popularly known as Fannie Mae, announced a $6-billion, five-year plan to help low- and moderate-income families in the county buy homes in the most expensive housing market in Southern California.

Fannie Mae buys mortgages made by lenders to home buyers. Under the new program, lenders can offer loans without requiring a down payment. That and other features in the program will help thousands of families become eligible for loans up to $240,000. Home ownership helps build community, increasing families’ investment in the streets and neighborhoods where they live.

Half the homes in the county now sell for nearly that $240,000 figure, too high a cost for most county renters to afford. With the increases in interest rates this year, the Fannie Mae program is especially welcome.

It will give those with household incomes of about $40,000 to $68,500 a year the chance to own a home in the county where they work rather than being forced to move to the Inland Empire to become homeowners.