Firm says it aims to accelerate new home construction throughout the country
In an effort to address the nationwide housing shortage, Homepoint has launched a new loan program designed to connect thousands of regional homebuilders with increased access to capital.
The Michigan-based wholesale giant has partnered with Level Capital, a national private portfolio lender, to create the Homepoint New Build program. According to a release, the partnership aims to "spark more widespread development of new homes" to alleviate today's low inventory issue.
"The housing supply shortage that we're experiencing nationwide can't singularly be attributed to supply chain issues or even the time-consuming process required to build a home," said Phil Shoemaker, president of originations at Homepoint. "The reality is that there are thousands of smaller home builders that have been effectively sidelined or restricted to a few builds each year because they're under-supported in terms of financed capital."
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Homepoint New Build connects builders with business purpose construction financing through in-region independent mortgage brokers, which are less expensive and more accessible than banks, credit unions, and hard-money lenders, the company said. The program enables builders to close new construction loans from $4 million to $25 million for single-family residences, multifamily homes, condos, and townhomes.
Shoemaker said this provides a stronger foundation of capital for builders to drastically increase their workload capabilities, ultimately increasing the pace and abundance of new home builds throughout the country.
New Build is currently available in 10 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Homepoint said that it will soon roll out the program in three additional states – Nevada, New Mexico, and North Carolina.
"There is a tremendous opportunity for small to midsize home builders throughout the country to boost the nation's housing supply which could have a leveling effect on housing prices," said Brady Yeager, President of Level Capital. "We strongly believe that mortgage brokers can provide builders with a more efficient process, better technology, market and project risk analysis via our Level Tech platform."
