City of Greeley considers expanding Greeley Home Ownership Program in light of rising home prices
The proposed G-HOPE map has four zones. The current version has three zones. The city is also considering increasing the amount of down payment assistance folks can qualify for. Photo courtesy of the City of Greeley.
By Kelly Ragan
Work for a major employer in Greeley? You might already qualify for down payment assistance -- and you could soon qualify for more.
Oh, we know housing prices are tough. That’s why, at a work session Tuesday, city council discussed expanding the Greeley Home Ownership Program for Employees program.
At the work session, Benjamin Snow, Greeley’s director of Economic Health and Housing, presented to council two ways to expand the program: dollar amount and geography.
As it stands, the program funding works like this:
Zone 1, east of 8th Avenue, can qualify for $6,000 in assistance
Zone 2, between 8th and 11th Avenues, can qualify for $4,000 in assistance
Zone 3, west of 11th Avenue, can qualify for $2,500 in assistance
The system is designed to reward people for buying in the east Greeley area. The further west you go, the less assistance you’d get.
At the meeting, Snow proposed adding another zone, essentially pushing the boundary out further west. He also proposed a funding bump, which would work like this:
Zone 1, east of 8th Avenue, can qualify for $8,000 in assistance
Zone 2, between 14th and 17th avenues, can qualify for $6,000 in assistance
Zone 3, everything west of 14th and 17th avenues within the Redevelopment District, can qualify for $4,000 in assistance
Zone 4: has pockets east and west, can qualify for $2,500 in assistance
Snow said he submitted a request for a funding increase to the City Manager’s office.
G-HOPE, established in 2015, encourages folks to buy homes and live in their community by offering some down payment assistance. The program aims to promote home ownership in Greeley’s Redevelopment District and around the University of Northern Colorado campus. The loans are interest free, and the G-HOPE program forgives them at a rate of 20% per year they live in the house. The program also has *no* income requirement.
Regular, full-time employees who work for the following employers can qualify:
Greeley City Government
University of Northern Colorado
Greeley-Evans School District 6
Banner Health/North Colorado Medical Center
North Range Behavioral Health
Sunrise Community Health
Frontier Academy
High Plains Library District
Salida del Sol Academy
JBS
North Colorado Health Alliance
Housing in Greeley
In 2015, when G-HOPE launched, median home prices in Greeley were closer to $220,500. In 2021, the median housing price in Greeley was about $385,000, Snow said.
According to data from the first six months of 2022, that’s already up about 20%. Average home prices are about $450,000, Snow said.
But rising interest rates are beginning to have an impact.
“The number of sales transactions is up, listings remain steady, and supply is still not keeping pace with demand,” Snow said. “But as tight as the housing market has been, the recent changes in the economy and interest rates are already having a loosening effect on our market.”
The Federal Reserve has moved to raise interest rates *four times* this year – once in March, May, June, and again on July 27. This hasn’t happened since the 1980s.
The raise hikes came in response to the rapid rebounding of the economy since 2020. The recovery, called “dramatic” by Bankrate, has been characterized by record-high home prices.
While the Federal Reserve doesn’t set mortgage rates perse, it *does* set the tone.
Mortgage rates had been at a record-low, which experts say fueled the housing boom over the last two years. But rates are ticking up. That means higher monthly payments for folks looking to buy – and that can price many would-be-home buyers out of the market.
Even with rising median home prices, increasing mortgage interest rates, and a tight market, demand for housing in Greeley is still high – and the city is still projected to grow by nearly 300,000 people by 2050.
Despite the clear demand for housing, applications for the G-HOPE program have stalled out.
In the first three years of the program’s launch, it awarded about 13 loans per year. In the last three years, the program has awarded six loans per year.
Of those loans, 31% have been awarded to UNC employees, 28% to D6 employees, 20% to city employees, 16% to Banner employees, 2% to JBS employees, and 2% to High Plains Library District employees.
At the meeting Tuesday, Assistant City Manager Becky Safarik said it was time to reboot the program and make sure people know about it.
What about affordable housing options?
There are four affordable housing projects in the pipeline in Greeley, set to create about 850 new housing units. Photo courtesy of the City of Greeley.
Snow said the various affordable housing projects in the pipeline will create about 850 new units.
Greeley has four affordable housing projects in the works.
Immaculate Plaza, set to have 54 units, is expected to break ground in the next couple of weeks around 10th Avenue and 6th Street, near WeldWerks.
Copper Platte, set to have 224 units, is under construction at the east end of the Greeley Mall.
The other projects are still in the early planning stages, Snow said.
Hope Springs, set to have 421 units, is expected to break ground next year.
123 9th Avenue, owned by High Plains Housing Development Corporation, is set to bring 150 affordable housing units to the city. This project is located just north of Immaculate Plaza.
By the numbers
In 2021, Greeley grew to an estimated 110,787 people.
By the end of 2022, experts expect the population to grow to 112,816
In 2021, Greeley issued 915 residential permits: 303 single-family units, 612 multi-family units
An additional 768 housing units anticipated in 2022
Median home sales price in 2021 was $385,000, a 14.6% increase from 2020
Median household income in 2019 was $61,492
Data courtesy of the City of Greeley.