More Banks Helping Americans Buy New Homes

Photo by Blake Wheeler on Unsplash

TD Bank launched an SPCP in March which is known as the TD Home Access Mortgage. This program is meant to assist those in majority Black and Historic communities move towards homeownership. The program spans from Maine to Florida.

This program would only need the borrower to have $500, the rest of the amount would be funded by the bank. This would make it a 97% loan-to-value product as TD Bank’s head of community lending and development Michael Innis-Thompson said in an interview with FOX FOX Business.

TD has also noted that this program would allow for greater flexibility in the debt-to-income ratio and it would increase accessibility. It would also include a $5,000 lender credit for qualifying borrowers which should be used as part of the closing costs or downpayment for the property. As Innis- Thompson said some of the borrowers that do not need that money can also use it to do interest rate buy-downs.

JPMorgan Chase offers its program which is an expansion of its grant program. This allows homebuyers from minority neighborhoods to get $5,000 for closing costs and down payments.

In late August, Bank of America also announced its trial program which would offer mortgages without the need for closing costs, down payments or even a minimum credit score for those from Hispanic or Black neighborhoods looking to buy in certain markets if they meet the preset income requirements.

According to the data by the National Association of Realtors, there was a large racial gap in homeownership as of 2020. For White households the ownership rate was around 72.5%, for Hispanic households it was about 51.1% and for Black households, it was 43.4%.