McLEAN, Va. – In what marks the first installment on Freddie Mac's commitment to fund up to $1 billion in below-market rate mortgages for storm recovery in Mississippi and Louisiana, the housing Government Sponsored Enterprise announced it is making $40 million available in low-cost mortgages to residents in Mississippi who either lost their homes or whose homes suffered major damage as a result of last year's devastating Hurricane Katrina. Specifically, Freddie Mac is purchasing $40 million of Mississippi Home Corporation (MHC) bonds that will be used to finance mortgages with a 5.61% interest rate for an estimated 350 borrowers. Freddie Mac is buying the bonds at a price that will enable MHC to make available an additional $1.2 million to cover three points of down payment or closing cost assistance, which works out to an estimated $3,000 per borrowers. Qualified borrowers can buy or repair homes in a federally designated Katrina disaster area. Borrowers can also use the loans to buy a house in a different area if they had a mortgage on a principal residence in a storm disaster area as of Aug. 28, the day before Katrina hit. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said the state “is grateful to Freddie Mac and Mississippi Home Corporation for this welcome injection of affordable mortgage credit to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina rebuild their lives and livelihoods.”