BOISE - A record-low 5.25% 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate is now available through the Idaho Housing and Finance Association. The new rate is the lowest since the Association began making residential loans in 1978, and is available now through any of IHFA’s nearly 40 participating lenders, with 80 branches statewide.

During 2001, IHFA helped 2,371 families purchase their home by providing lower interest rates and generating a home ownership investment of $190.9 million for Idaho. IHFA remains on pace for its largest loan mortgage investment ever in a calendar year.

"Providing opportunities for Idaho's first-time home buyer families is one of IHFA's major priorities," said Bob Reed, vice president of Real Estate Lending for IHFA. "It is this investment in home ownership that we're proud to offer. This record-low rate allows home ownership opportunities which might not otherwise have been available."

Through the IHFA mortgage loan program, home buyers must meet borrower requirements and income and sales price limits that vary by county. Since 1978, IHFA has financed over 48,000 loans —worth $2.9 billion—for affordable homes for Idaho’s first-time and limited-income home buyers.