NeighborWorks Campaign for Homeownership Approaches $6 Billion in Mortgage Lending

For Immediate Release

November 21, 2006
Contact: Douglas Robinson, (202) 220-2360; drobinson@nw.org

NeighborWorks Campaign for Homeownership
Approaches $6 Billion in Mortgage Lending

Campaign Means Success for Low- and Moderate-Income Home Buyers

Washington, DC – The NeighborWorks® Campaign for Homeownership (the Campaign) today announced that it has helped nearly 44,000 families achieve the dream of homeownership and generated nearly $6 billion in new mortgage lending between January 1, 2003 and June 30, 2006. The results announced today extend the tradition of success for the Campaign, which since 1993 has assisted more than 100,000 low- and moderate-income families become homeowners.

In the quarter, NeighborWorks organizations generated more than $597 million in new mortgages, increasing quarter-to-quarter mortgage volume by 10.7 percent. The results for the Campaign contrast sharply with the slower mortgage lending trend seen in the broader home loan market.

“The results for the first half of the year show that NeighborWorks organizations continue to be effective in finding ways to help more low- and moderate-income families become home owners,” said Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks America, the sponsor of The NeighborWorks Campaign for Homeownership.

“Ninety-two percent of the homebuyers served by the Campaign are first-time home owners, and more than 40 percent of the borrowers are female-headed households,” said Wade.

More than 150 NeighborWorks organizations in 46 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico participate in the Campaign.

The vast majority of mortgage loans generated by the Campaign are written by traditional mortgage lenders who have partnered with local NeighborWorks organizations. However, NeighborWorks organizations also provide first mortgages, second mortgages and down-payment assistance and other financial services that help the homebuyer to close the deal.

Wade noted that cumulative first mortgages made by NeighborWorks organizations increased quarter-to-quarter to $165 million, from $153 million at March 31, 2006, a gain of nearly 8 percent. Second mortgage loans increased to $111 million on June 30, from $110.8 million at the end of the first quarter 2006.

The Campaign Serves Proportionally More Minority Borrowers

The Campaign has successfully targeted minority households, which lag behind whites in homeownership. Approximately 21 percent of the Campaign’s recent homebuyers are African-American. Data provided by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act indicate that only 6 percent of mortgage loans issued by the conventional market in 2003 (the most recent year for which data is available) served African American buyers. Similarly, 24 percent of the Campaign’s recent borrowers were Hispanic, as compared to 10 percent of loans within the conventional market in 2003.

Active in Diverse Markets

The Campaign has succeeded in creating homeowners across the country, including traditionally high-cost urban markets and traditionally underserved rural communities. For example, South County Housing, a NeighborWorks network member in Gilroy, California, reported $37.2 million in cumulative mortgage lending in the second quarter, an increase of $7 million or 20 percent from the end of the first quarter. Meanwhile, Neighborhood Housing Services of Reading, Inc., in rural Reading, Pennsylvania, grew its lending portfolio to $23.3 million in the second quarter, from $21.3 million in the first.

More details on the loans and borrowers in The Campaign are available at http://nw.org/network/nwdata/campResults.asp

NeighborWorks America provides financial support, technical assistance and training for communities across the nation, including the NeighborWorks network � a nationwide network of more than 240 community development organizations working in more than 4,400 urban, suburban and rural communities across America. These organizations engage in revitalization strategies that strengthen communities and transform lives. In the last five years alone, NeighborWorks organizations have generated more than $10 billion in reinvestment and helped more than 780,000 families of modest means purchase or improve their homes or secure safe, decent rental or mutual housing.

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