More first-time home buyers will be able to take advantage of a low-interest loan program after the Aurora City Council allocated an additional $3 million to the program.
The money was left over from a 1999 statewide fund for the program, said Steven L. Kadden, first assistant corporate counsel. Earlier this year the council allocated $1.5 million in industrial revenue bonding authority to the program, which made more than $150 million in mortgage loans available on a first-come, first-served basis to home buyers in more than 65 municipalities.
Aurora, which has taken part in the program for 11 years, is the state’s leader in participation, Kadden said. Last year the city allocated $1.44 million, but as of March, home buyers in Aurora had initiated $25 million in mortgages, he said.
Under the program home buyers get below-market interest rates, now set at about 6.6 percent, and receive funds equal to 4.25 percent of their mortgages to offset closing, down payment and other costs.
Participants must not have owned a home in three years.
Income limits are $67,900 for a single person or family of two in Kane, DuPage and Will Counties and $73,600 in Kendall County. For a family of three or more, the income limit is $78,085 in the three-county area and $84,640 in Kendall. Participating home buyers can buy older homes for up to $179,560 and new homes for up to $186,760.
In a target area on the central east side of the city, individuals or families of two can earn up to $81,480 and families of three or more can earn up to $95,060. Older homes can cost no more than $219,460, and new homes no more than $228,260.
