NEW YORK – Standard and Poor’s, one of the two leading bond rating agencies in the country, has upgraded Maine State Housing Authority’s housing bonds from double A to double A plus.

“The new higher rating signifies that Standard and Poor’s considers MSHA to be financially strong, with solid programs and processes to protect its financial health,” said MSHA Director Michael Finnegan. “This rating is about as good as an organization that does not have the ability to raise funds through taxation can get. Our bond rating is the same as the rating for the state of Maine’s bonds.”

According to a statement from Standard and Poor’s, the upgrade of MSHA’s rating reflects “very strong credit quality of the mortgages, high credit quality of investments, cash flow strength, very strong coverage for potential loan losses, and very strong MSHA portfolio oversight.”

“The low interest rates for our bonds will mean low interest rates for first-time home buyers,” said Finnegan.

The current interest rates in MSHA’s first-time home buyer program are 5.75 percent in the regular program and 4.5 percent in the Great Rate program, which MSHA targets to lower-income home buyers.

MSHA has a loan portfolio of about $1.5 billion, including $1.1 billion for 19,000 single-family mortgages.

MSHA also has financed several hundred multifamily developments, providing affordable housing to over 15,000 low-income senior, family and special needs households in Maine.

For more information, MSHA’s Web site is www.mainehousing.org.