More than 200,000 affordable homes will result from the nearly $14 billion the U.S. Department of Treasury invested in the nation's housing finance agencies (HFAs) Tuesday.

The department's purchase of housing bonds is part of the Obama Administration's Housing Finance Agency Initiative, an element of its Making Home Affordable program.

The HFA Initiative is expected to come at no cost to taxpayers.

Four Vermont affordable housing developments will install solar water heating systems, thanks to $500,000 in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Applegate Apartments, Bennington; Highgate Apartments, Barre; Salmon Run, Burlington; and Westgate Apartments, Brattleboro (pictured), will install the systems, which will supply 50 percent of the hot water demands of 1,000 residents.

The announcement was made yesterday by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Champlain Housing Trust.

Home prices in Vermont are stabilizing, and will continue to become more stable in 2010. That was the message the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Lawrence Yun (pictured) delivered when he addressed the Northwestern Vermont Board of Realtors yesterday.

Vermont State Housing Authority (VSHA) has started allowing Vermonters to apply online for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.

The new system, which went live last week, allows applicants to complete their application in 3-5 minutes at www.waitlistcheck.com. They can return to the site later to track the progress of their application by entering their year of birth and Social Security number.