NeighborWorks Campaign for Homeownership Exceeds $6.6 Billion in Mortgage Lending

For Immediate Release

January 11, 2007
Contact: Douglas Robinson, NeighborWorks® America, 202-220-2360; drobinson@nw.org

NeighborWorks Campaign for Homeownership
Exceeds $6.6 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 48,000 families achieve the dream of homeownership and generated more than $6.6 billion in new mortgage lending between January 1, 2003 and September 30, 2006. The results announced today extend the tradition of success for the Campaign, which since 1993 has assisted nearly 110,000 low- and moderate-income families become homeowners.

In the third quarter of 2006, NeighborWorks organizations generated more than $610 million in new mortgages, increasing second quarter to third quarter mortgage volume by 10.6 percent. The results for the Campaign contrast sharply with the slower mortgage lending trend seen in the broader home loan market.

“The results through the first nine months of 2006 show that NeighborWorks organizations continue to assist low- and moderate-income families achieve the goal of homeownership,” 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 41 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 $181 million, from $165 million at September 30, 2006, a gain of just under ten percent. Second mortgage loans increased to $120 million on September 30, from $111 million at the end of the second quarter 2006.

The Campaign Serves Proportionally More Minority Borrowers
The Campaign has successfully targeted minority households, which lag behind whites in homeownership. Approximately twenty-one percent of the Campaign’s recent homebuyers are African-American. Data provided by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act indicate that only nine percent of mortgage loans issued by the conventional market in 2005 (the most recent year for which data is available) served African American buyers. Similarly, 24% of the Campaign’s recent borrowers were Hispanic, as compared to 16% 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, Affordable Housing Resources, Inc. a NeighborWorks network member in Nashville, TN, reported $104.3 million in cumulative mortgage lending in the third quarter, an increase of $8.1 million from the end of the second quarter. Meanwhile, Central Vermont Community Land Trust, Inc., in Barre, VT, grew its lending portfolio to $20.8 million in the third quarter, from $15.1 million in the second.

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

About NeighborWorks America
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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