Menino kicks off housing fair for first-time buyers

Mayor Thomas M. Menino said today that record foreclosures in Massachusetts should not stop people from buying their first homes.

Menino appeared this morning at a fair at City Hall Plaza for first-time homebuyers. The fair was organized by the city, as well as Mass Housing, a quasi-state agency that provides mortgages to first-time buyers, and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

The mayor said "poor lending practices" by subprime mortgage companies caused the foreclosures and should not scare people from buying their first homes. "That should not stop hard-working people who want to buy houses in the city."

Mass Housing provides loans with below-market rates for Boston houses costing up to $428,000. To qualify, a one- or two-person household must have an income below $94,300.

Menino said he purchased the Hyde Park home he still lives in for $33,500, even though his father advised against it because interest rates were going down. "Interest rates did go down," the mayor said, "but home prices went way up. I am very glad I bought the house."

Real estate agents and MassHousing officials will be at booths in the plaza today until 3 p.m. Agents around the city are planning open houses around the city this weekend for homes that are within Mass Housing's price limits.
(By Kimberly Blanton, Globe staff)