The mortgage agency administers the program - the state's first attempt at promoting home ownership in cities, where ownership rates are low.

The corporation said it was the first of the quasi-Government mortgage agencies to issue securities backed by a pool of such mortgages.

Until now, Sonny Mae and mortgage agencies in many other states made no household-size distinction.

These are considered government securities because the government-sponsored mortgage agencies guarantee that if the homeowner defaults, the principal will be paid to the bondholder.

Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage agency, issued an inflation-linked bond last month, its first since 1997.

The mortgage agencies do not buy such loans directly from the companies that write them, as they do with prime loans.

At Mr. Bader's mortgage agency it's been those that start out with an interest rate of around 5.5 percent and limit adjustments to three-year intervals.

The mortgage agency guarantees the first 50 percent of any losses on the building mortgage.

But we are working with lenders, public mortgage agencies and nonprofit housing groups to to make it a little easier for young families to buy homes.

In 1999, Fannie Mae, the mortgage agency, began offering on-site geriatric care consultations to 4,600 employees in the Washington area.