BOISE - Beginning tomorrow, qualified borrowers considering an Idaho Housing and Finance Association home loan will be eligible to purchase a new-construction dwelling or existing home of up to $200,000 in any county in the state, and up to $275,000 in Blaine and Teton counties. Coupled with an increase in the income limits for those loans, and the below-market interest rates that IHFA also provides - currently 4.99 percent - this opens the door for home ownership opportunities statewide.

"This increase in sales price limits and income limits, effective March 1, will allow us to more aggressively help more Idahoans," said Bob Reed, IHFA's vice president, Real Estate Lending. "And the sales price limit increase is quite significant, depending on which county a borrower lives in."

Keeping pace with increased home values, IHFA has nearly tripled sales price limits in many counties in the past few year. Reed said that Bannock County, for example, not long ago had a sales price limit of $86,000, but qualified borrowers now can have an IHFA loan for homes costing $200,000. Other counties, like Butte, Camas, Caribou, Franklin, Fremont, Minidoka, Power and Valley, have seen an even higher rise, from a previous limit of $82,000 just a few short years ago.

The sales price limit governs the maximum amount IHFA can lend on a home loan. Income limits govern the maximum amount a household can earn and still qualify for an IHFA home loan. See the chart on the second page of this release for the new limits.

Since 1978, IHFA has financed more than 51,260 loans-worth almost $3.2 billion-for affordable homes for Idaho's first-time and limited-income home buyers.

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The Idaho Housing and Finance Association, a financial services and housing business organization, provides funding for affordable housing in communities where it is most needed and when economically feasible.