The e-commerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has teamed with the nonprofit National Housing Trust (NHT) on an affordable homeownership pilot program designed to help up to 800 individuals and families from underserved communities purchase homes.
The initiative will focus on Puget Sound in Washington state; Arlington, Virginia; and Nashville. Amazon will invest $40 million to help moderate-income individuals and families purchase homes in these markets.
This endeavor is part of the Amazon Housing Equity Fund (HEF), a program that launched in 2021 that has helped create or preserve more than 14,000 homes with guaranteed affordable rents. This marks the first time HEF is being used to create access to homeownership.
“Historically, those who are able to own homes are more likely to experience long-term economic stability, while those who can’t are more likely to struggle financially,” said Senthil Sankaran, managing principal at the Amazon Housing Equity Fund. “This new initiative will allow us to explore ways to help more moderate-income residents realize their dreams of homeownership and, in turn, help build wealth that they can pass on to the next generation.”
“As a leader in affordable homeownership lending, we are excited to partner with the Amazon Housing Equity Fund,” said Priya Jayachandran, CEO of the National Housing Trust. “This partnership is unique because Amazon’s support will enable us to create new, innovative pathways to ownership that will transform people’s lives.”
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