Va. Subsidizes High-Income Home Buyers

In pricey Loudoun County, housing is so expensive that even a couple making $135,000 a year needs help in purchasing a home.

That's the thinking behind a new state program that allows first-time Loudoun home buyers earning up to that amount to qualify for a low-interest loan.

Launched across Northern Virginia this summer, the initiative is meant to help families that make too much to qualify for other affordable housing programs but not enough to buy a house in one of the nation's most affluent regions.

It's especially welcome news in Loudoun, which last year was rated by the U.S. Census Bureau as the nation's wealthiest large county based on median household income. Although prices of houses have dropped, the average single-family home in Loudoun still costs about $660,000 as of March, and the average townhouse went for $442,000, according to the county.

Providing enough affordable housing is a major issue in Loudoun and the region, not only for the poor but also for the middle-class teachers, sheriff's deputies, paramedics, nurses and others who struggle to buy houses but are vital to the health of the community, said Dorri O'Brien Morin, a spokeswoman for Loudoun's Department of Economic Development.

"The availability of workforce housing, as it's called, is an issue that Loudoun employers grapple with," she said.

Under the new program, individuals who make up to $108,000 and couples who make up to $135,000 may borrow up to $417,000, with the interest partly subsidized by the Virginia Housing Development Authority.

A similar program is available for first-time or repeat homebuyers who make 70 to 100 percent of Loudoun's median income, which is $94,000 by the county's calculations.

Both programs were started on an experimental basis this year, allowing several Loudoun families to benefit, said Karen Thorson, a loan specialist for the county's Department of Family Services. Loudoun has $4.5 million in loans to offer this fiscal year, so not everyone who qualifies will be able to get one.

Although county officials often highlight the housing needs of government and school employees, such loans also can be a boon for workers in the private sector, said John Wood, chief executive of the Ashburn-based Telos Corp., a network security firm.

On average, Wood said, his employees make about $89,000 a year, comfortable by traditional standards but not enough to buy a house in Loudoun. Employees often will commute from Maryland or elsewhere, he said, but eventually they tire of the drive and want to settle down close to work.

"The old rule of thumb used to be 'You should never buy a home more than 3.5 times what you make,' " Wood said. "We offer a decent salary. But what it basically means is you have to have two people in your household making that kind of money, which might not be realistic."

Michele Watson, director of homeownership programs at the Virginia Housing Development Authority, said cutting down commutes was part of the impetus for the loan programs.

"Think about gasoline prices, the cost of day care," she said. "If we can make it easier for someone to be able to live near their work, then we think we will have accomplished great things."

More information about the programs is available at http://www.vhda.com.