Published 6:23 am Thursday, May 28, 2026 Nearly 1,000 Oregon households used a state-sponsored lending program to help buy a home in 2025. The Flex Lending program, which Oregon Housing and Community Services began developing in 2018, allows low- to moderate-income borrowers to buy homes in the Beaver State with minimal cash upfront and lower interest rates. Last year, 33 state-approved lenders provided almost $300 million to help Oregonians buy homes using the program. About one-third of those homebuyers, or 31%, identified as people of color, while 32% were veteran households and 43% of borrowers lived in rural areas, according to the agency . The program offers two products. FirstHome, the program’s loan product for first-time homebuyers and some veterans, has a maximum household income limit based on the area median family income per county. The other program, NextStep, is for anyone who earns $125,000 or less and doesn’t currently own a home.…