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Georgia Dream expansion and special down-payment supports detailed to committee
Summary
DCAstaff described the Georgia Dream program: about 97 participating lenders, roughly 2,000 new homeowners last year (average loan $140,000), and layered down-payment assistance ($5,000 general; $7,500 for certain workers; $15,000 in designated distressed counties from HomeSafe funds).
Brenda McGee, division director for homeownership at the Department of Community Affairs, told the committee the Georgia Dream program provides affordable mortgage financing to eligible first-time homebuyers through a network of participating lenders.
"The program provides affordable mortgage financing to eligible 1st time homebuyers across the state through a network of lenders," McGee said. She said DCA works with about 97 lenders and roughly 250 local branches to market the program. McGee described a standard $5,000 down-payment assistance benefit, a specialized $7,500 assistance focused on public-safety employees, educators and health-care workers (or households with a disability), and a time-limited $15,000 assistance available in designated Treasury-defined distressed counties through the HomeSafe Georgia allocation.
McGee said last year the program closed on more than 2,000 new homeowners with an average loan around $140,000; she added the program is run through a bond financing mechanism that the Georgia Housing Finance Authority sells, subject to annual authorization by the Georgia State Finance and Investment Commission. Committee members asked about outreach and lender incentives; McGee said lenders generally screen applicants before they reach DCA and that federal rules limit direct incentives to real-estate agents, so DCA focuses on training and outreach.
