Posted on June 15, 2020
BOSTON --- The City of Boston and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) have unveiled ONE+Boston, a new mortgage and down-payment assistance program that will give income-qualified, first-time Boston homebuyers more buying power to purchase a home in Boston.
"The ONE+Boston program is a great new resource that will help make the dream of owning a home a reality for more residents," said Mayor Martin J. Walsh in announcing the program on June 15. "Creating pathways to homeownership means giving people the opportunity for equity and wealth building for themselves and their family. One of the most important ways to close the wealth gap is by providing the ability for wealth to be passed on from generation to generation, and homeownership is a key part of that."
ONE+Boston is an enhanced version of MHP's ONE Mortgage Program, the state's most affordable mortgage program. ONE+Boston combines a discounted interest rate with increased down payment assistance to help first-time homebuyers afford homes in the city. Features of the program include:
- Boston residents who earn between 80 and 100 percent of area median income will receive a half percent (0.5%) discount rate off the already low-interest rate offered through the ONE Mortgage product (currently about 3 percent).
Boston residents who earn below 80 percent of area median income will receive up to one percent (1%) off of the current ONE Mortgage rate.
Qualified buyers will also be eligible for down payment and closing cost assistance through the Boston Home Center.
These features will give Boston residents more buying power. For example, with a conventional loan, a family of four making 100 percent of area median income ($119,000) could afford a $410,000 single-family home in Boston. With ONE+Boston, the same family could afford a $539,000 single-family home in Boston.
Increasing homeownership rates - particularly for low- and moderate-income residents, people of color, new immigrants and first-generation homebuyers - is one of Mayor Walsh’s top priorities. It is reflected in his Housing A Changing City: Boston 2030 Plan. This new program came out of Mayor Walsh’s Barriers to Homeownership Working Group, which included a diverse group membership, with a business group, realtors, local lenders, MHP, and advocacy groups such as the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA) and the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO).
This is the first new city-assisted affordable mortgage program to be created specifically for low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers. Additionally, this is the first new mortgage product for low- and moderate-income homebuyers to be developed in Massachusetts in the last 30 years.
"Thousands of Boston families, including mine, have benefited from the ONE program, which was developed 30 years ago to address racial disparities in lending,” said Symone Crawford, director of homeownership education for MAHA. “Today, we are excited to build on that program and launch ONE+Boston with Mayor Walsh, MHP, and participating banks. This will help Boston residents buy in Boston and will help us make progress in closing the racial homeownership gap. Some of the thousand-plus residents who attended the MAHA event last summer with the Mayor will hopefully be among the first to buy a home with this new program."
ONE+Boston is an enhanced version of the ONE Mortgage, the state’s most affordable mortgage program. Administered by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP), it is offered by lenders across Massachusetts to first-time buyers earning at or below 100 percent of area median income. Created in 1990, the ONE mortgage has financed over 5,800 loans in Boston, 57 percent to people of color. Statewide, ONE has financed over 22,000 loans statewide, half to people of color. With the new ONE+Boston program, qualified buyers who earn between 80 and 100 percent area median income will receive 0.5 percent discount rate off of an already low-interest rate offered through the ONE Mortgage product (currently about 3 percent). Buyers who earn below 80 percent of area median income will receive up to one percent off of the current ONE Mortgage rate.
“Thanks to the City of Boston’s commitment, ONE+Boston will expand our ability to help moderate-income households and people of color,” said Elliot Schmiedl, MHP’s homeownership director. “We’ve always had great support from the Baker-Polito Administration and we’re thrilled to partner with Mayor Walsh and the Boston Home Center to help more people build wealth through homeownership in Boston.”
Four lenders are offering the ONE+Boston product and were instrumental in the development of the program: Boston Private Bank, Cambridge Trust, Citizens, and Santander banks. Boston Private and Santander are currently offering ONE+Boston. Cambridge Trust will join on July 1 and Citizens will join later this summer. Interested homebuyers can get more information on MHP's ONE+Boston web page. More information can also be found on this ONE+Boston flyer.
“This innovative program will help to make first-time homebuyers more competitive in this very high-cost housing market,” said Charles Nilsen, Boston Private’s National Director of Residential Lending. “Boston Private is excited to participate in the program and build upon our more than 20 years of partnership with the City and MHP to help homebuyers build wealth by purchasing their first homes.”
“The great thing about this program is that it isn’t only a reduced interest rate mortgage product, said Sheila Dillon, the City’s Chief of Housing. “The Boston Home Center is also providing enhanced downpayment and closing cost assistance under the ONE+Boston program to make this a really powerful product for our residents.”