PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 16, 2006--The Board of Directors of FHLBank Pittsburgh has approved $6.58 million in grants under its Affordable Housing Program (AHP). The grants will help finance 28 housing projects across Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, creating 726 units of housing with total development costs of $89.3 million.

"In this, our 17th year of AHP, we are again pleased to provide our financial institution members with grants that help create a growing stock of attractively priced housing for purchase or rental by low- and very-low-income individuals and families including homeless, children, frail elderly and the physically and mentally disabled," said John R. Price, FHLBank Pittsburgh's president and chief executive officer. The grants are the result of the first of two competitive funding rounds to occur this year.

FHLBank Pittsburgh received 77 AHP applications during this year's first round. In the just-completed funding round, the Bank awarded $724,000 for three projects in Delaware, $500,000 for one project in New Jersey, $4.9 million for 20 projects in Pennsylvania and $475,000 for four projects in West Virginia. As in prior years, the total AHP allocation in 2006 will equal ten percent of the Bank's net income.

FHLBank Pittsburgh, a wholesale bank using private capital, not taxpayer funds, distributes AHP dollars through its member financial institutions to community sponsors and project developers. With today's announcement, the Bank has awarded approximately $118 million for more than 21,000 affordable housing units since the start of the AHP in 1990 - empowering families, improving neighborhoods and building sustainable communities.

This year, the Bank is judging grant applications on a set of scoring criteria that include providing opportunities for first-time homebuyers and individuals with special needs, serving the very-low-income, offering large-family rental opportunities, operating cost-efficiently and promoting community stability. Other scoring factors being used in 2006 include housing that serves the homeless, low subsidy costs per unit and the use of donated properties.

With assets of approximately $72.5 billion, FHLBank Pittsburgh, a government-sponsored enterprise created by Congress in 1932, serves approximately 335 members across its three-state district. It is one of twelve FHLBanks, all cooperatively owned banks established to provide a steady stream of low-cost housing finance. More recently, the Bank's mission has been expanded to include financing for business startup and expansion as well as a variety of community and economic development needs.

Copyright Business Wire 2006

Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh

Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLBank) is a privately-owned, privately-capitalized cooperative of financial institutions operating in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It provides low-cost funding to, buys mortgages from, and makes affordable housing grants through its several hundred member institutions. Chartered by Congress in 1932, FHLBank Pittsburgh uses no tax dollars. It is one of 12 FHLBanks that serve regional banking districts across the country.

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