By Robert Travis Scott
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Copyright 2006 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
BATON ROUGE, La. — Strong demand for low-interest home loans since Hurricane Katrina has depleted the lending resources of Louisiana’s affordable-housing authority, officials said Thursday, even though the agency has more than doubled its usual pool of mortgage money this year.
The trend is a good sign for the post-hurricane recovery outlook, said Wayne Neveu, bond counsel for the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency.
“We are offering a service that’s in high demand,” Neveu said.
The housing agency requested final approval from the State Bond Commission for $100 million in bonds to back several loan programs, including a new one aimed at police officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel and other first-responders seeking to buy or rebuild homes.
The commission gave only preliminary approval, delaying the program at least until its September meeting, when it may give the final stamp. Commissioners balked at final approval partly because the housing agency wants to classify some of the bonds under the federal Gulf Opportunity Zone program, which normally requires a two-step process.
An atypical request year
The housing agency in a typical year will make one or two requests for bond issues of $35 million to $45 million apiece, much of it applied toward low-cost loan programs designed for teachers, first-time home buyers, the disabled and others who meet certain qualifications.
So far in 2006, in response to hurricane recovery needs, the agency has issued $148 million in home-loan bonds, which has been used up.
The first-responders program, when it becomes available, will offer interest rates about 1.5 to 2 points lower than typical market rates, Neveu said. Typical loans in the program will range from about $150,000 to $200,000 for households that meet certain income standards.
That income standard is about 200 percent of the local median income. Households earning somewhat more than $100,000 a year would be eligible for the program, a higher threshold than for typical agency loans, Neveu said.
In other action Thursday, the commission approved loans for several projects under the federally supported Gulf Opportunity Zone Tax Exempt Private Activity Bonds program, designed to offer favorable lending terms to private interests choosing to expand or rebuild business operations in Louisiana. Those included a $165 million liquid logistics center in Geismar for International Matex Tank Terminals.
About $7.8 billion is available from the Go Zone program through 2010, and so far the state has either given preliminary approval or allocated about 16 percent of that amount.
$80 million to archdiocese
The commission gave preliminary approval for revenue and refinancing bonds up to $80 million for an Archdiocese of New Orleans project requested by the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority. The bonds will be used primarily to finance reconstruction of nine school buildings, offices, nursing homes and other facilities operated by the archdiocese.
The commission approved several requests from local agencies in the New Orleans area seeking a special form of revenue bond under the Community Disaster Loan Program implemented after Hurricane Katrina with federal support. Congress recently provided another $371 million under the program, with Louisiana receiving about $260 million.
Among the approvals were $120 million in notes for the city of New Orleans, $35.4 million for the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, $100 million for the Regional Transit Authority and $145 million for the Orleans Parish School Board. Other agencies taking advantage of the program were the Orleans Parish Communications District and the Orleans Levee District.
In St. Bernard Parish, the council, the law enforcement district, the School Board, the Levee District and the port district were approved for money through the disaster loan program. The New Orleans Aviation Board and several agencies in Plaquemines Parish received approval for their disaster loans on condition that the agencies meet new federal qualifications to participate.
A Home Depot project got preliminary approval for up to $25 million in revenue bonds for a new store planned for the corner of South Claiborne Avenue and Earhart Boulevard. The developer will pay the bonds.
The 115,000-square-foot store was announced in late March.