The New Tribune is reporting that the City of Tacoma has the opportunity to claim 2.9 Million of the 3.9 Billion Dollar Housing Bill congress passed in July.
“Pierce County is eligible for about $4.4 million, and the City of Tacoma is eligible for about $2.9 million. Both amounts are the highest in the state, because both areas have the highest foreclosure rates.
Local officials acknowledge the program’s limitations.
“Three million dollars in the housing market is a grain of sand,” said Rick Teasley, housing division manager for the City of Tacoma. “At the very best, we can hope to help maybe 100 to 200 home buyers get into houses.”
Everyone is going to have lots of opinions about how this money can best be used, the problem is (Like Rick Teasley says above) 2.9 million is not a ton of money. To put that in perspective that is 12.6 houses at our County’s median home price of $230,000.
I believe that adding cash to the coffers of the City of Tacoma Downpayment Assistance Program would do the most good. That helps buyers, which helps sellers.
It will be interesting to see what happens next and how this money is used.
