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DCA details Georgia Dream mortgage program, downpayment assistance and bond financing
Summary
DCA officials told the committee the Georgia Dream program helped more than 2,000 first-time buyers last year with an average loan near $140,000, offers layered downpayment assistance ($5,000 standard; targeted $7,500 and $15,000 in distressed counties), and uses private-activity bond authority administered with the Georgia Housing Finance Authority.
Department of Community Affairs staff described the Georgia Dream homeownership program to the committee, outlining program mechanics, income and price limits, and outreach efforts to expand access for first-time buyers.
“We did over 2,000 new homeowners with an average loan of about a hundred and forty thousand dollars,” Brenda McGee, DCA’s division director for homeownership, told legislators while reviewing the program’s structure. McGee said the program works through about 97 participating lenders and roughly 250 local branches that originate loans DCA purchases, allowing lenders to manage fewer long-term mortgage assets.
Standard downpayment assistance is $5,000, McGee said, with targeted enhancements that can reach $7,500 for specified public-safety employees, educators, health-care workers or households with a member with a disability. She also described a time-limited $15,000 downpayment assistance program directed to counties Treasury designated as “distressed,” which remains available only while those federal funds last.
Committee members asked about income limits, purchase-price caps and counseling requirements. McGee said limits derive from the Internal Revenue Code and program rules: the transcript cites a metro maximum purchase price of $250,000 and $200,000 in other counties, and average purchase prices observed by DCA are about $140,000. She added that every first-time homebuyer must complete pre-purchase counseling before closing.
On financing, McGee described Georgia Dream as supported by a private-activity bond model administered with the Georgia Housing Finance Authority; bonds are not obligations of the state, she said, and GHFA maintains high credit ratings that support access to capital. She said DCA aims for an annual bond authorization in the $225–250 million range to sustain program volume.
Representatives gave examples of local outreach and combined funding (local subsidies plus DCA assistance) and urged continued publicity to increase uptake in underrepresented counties. McGee and other staff offered to provide county-level data and maps to legislators for follow-up. The meeting concluded with no formal votes or policy actions taken.
