Lease-Purchase Loans

The lease-purchase loan is available now only in California and parts of Virginia, but the company plans to expand coverage nationally over the next two years.

For the first time, Freddie Mac also is allowing builders to contribute up to the 3 percent of the purchase price on behalf of a buyer. The company is still "not real comfortable" with permitting sellers to put up money for their buyers, but Nickerson said it is now willing to treat a grant from the builder as borrower cash.

Meanwhile, Fannie Mae has a new and innovative interest-only mortgage that allows homebuyers to expand their purchasing power.

With the Interest First Mortgage, borrowers pay just the interest for the first 15 years of the mortgage, reported Howard Nelson, vice president of customization.

On a $150,000 mortgage at 7.125 percent, the buyer's payment would be $95 a month lower than it would be on a 30-year fixed loan of the same amount at 6.875 percent. But if the borrower decided to make a payment to principal, the next month's payment would be even lower.

As the loan amount increases, Nelson said, the savings would be even more significant: $126 on a $200,000 mortgage, $158 on a $250,000 loan and $190 on a $300,000 mortgage.