HOMEOWNER MORTGAGE AND EQUITY PARTNERSHIP

Aimed at helping first-time buyers get a down payment faster to get into the housing market, the three-year program matches the amount homebuyers have already saved for their down payment, providing up to $37,500, or five per cent of the purchase price, with a 25-year loan that is interest- and payment-free for the first five years. Here are a few more facts and figures about HOME.

Buyers’ household gross income must not exceed $150,000 annually, and the home purchasing price must be less than $750,000. After five years, the interest rate is prime plus 0.5 per cent.

Buyers must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents for the last five years, and have not owned a stake in a principal residence anywhere in the world.

The province has received 824 applications since the program opened on Jan. 16, with 166 of them now with purchase contracts, and an estimated $2.7 million in loans pending, half of those in Metro Vancouver.

Between Feb. 15 and March 1, 63 home purchases involved $1-million loans from HOME.

In addition to the program, the federal government invested more than $375 million in Metro Vancouver last year to boost affordability for more than 61,000 households.

The government has committed $920 million in additional funding to construct and renovate close to 5,300 rental units, including projects to create 1,750 new units in Metro Vancouver.

For more information about the B.C. HOME Partnership program, visit www.bchousing.org/housing-assistance/ bc-home-partnership