SAUGUS — In an effort to stimulate the town’s housing market, the Saugus Affordable Housing Trust, in cooperation with lending company CrossCountry Mortgage, announced last week it will offer housing benefits to ease closing costs on Saugus properties.
“This is a great thing,” said SAHT committee member and CrossCountry Loan Lender Tom Traverse. “We hope this draws more people to look at Saugus real estate.”
SAHT Chairman John Cannon added: “It’s a new concept. We don’t know if many people know about it.”
CrossCountry Mortgage will give closing costs — the extra fees buyers and sellers incur during the completion of a real estate transaction — credit of up to $2,198 to all Saugus residents, Town employees, those who work in the town, and those looking to purchase or refinance homes in Saugus.
“There just isn’t enough inventory on the market to satisfy the need. It’s becoming more expensive for a young couple to buy a house than it’s ever been,” Traverse said. “Any assistance to help get to that goal is beneficial for them.”
Home sales, as well as home prices, in Saugus have swelled in recent years. Last May, The Item reported median home prices in the town grew by 13 percent from January to April alone. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median value of owner-occupied housing units in Saugus from 2014 to 2018 was $374,400.
Tom Callahan, Executive Director of Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, echoed Traverse’s sentiments that the market is less forgiving for first-time homebuyers.
“First-time buyers in the greater Boston area, Saugus included, need a lot of help,” he said. “This is a very tough housing market to buy your first home in, and if you’re low-to-moderate income, it can feel next to impossible sometimes. Any down payment or closing cost assistance that communities can offer is definitely needed and definitely welcomed.”
However, Callahan added that providing closing cost credit to residents only solves a small part of the complicated affordable-housing crisis — a crisis felt by many communities throughout the state.
“Will this be enough to solve the issue for a lot of people? Probably not,” he said. “There needs to be a combination of resources. You need to build more homes at more affordable prices that more people can afford.”
Those most likely to benefit from these new measures, he said, would be homebuyers who are already close to purchasing their first house, but just need a small financial boost.
“Definitely for some people, even a couple thousand dollars can help tremendously,” Callahan said.
These new benefits offered by SAHT will not only apply to homes in Saugus, but can also be used by Saugus residents who wish to invest in properties elsewhere. No repayment will be required, and conventional FHA and VA loans are eligible.
“I think this is needed everywhere,” Traverse said. “Closing costs are so expensive today that it keeps a lot of homebuyers from getting into (the market) … At least this is $2,000 to help, and there’s no cost to it.”
