EL PASO, TX - El Paso Mayor Carlos Ramirez today joined representatives from Premier Communities, and Fannie Mae for the ground breaking of Oasis Ranch, a new affordable housing community in El Paso. Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE), the nation's largest source of home mortgage funds, is providing a $3 million line of credit for this new development through its Housing Impact Fund, an innovative short-term loan fund designed to support affordable housing development in underserved markets. Premier Communities is a newly formed joint venture of leading builders from Mexico and the U.S. that will develop affordable housing throughout the United States.

Oasis Ranch is a new community in East El Paso that will offer 430 two- and three-bedroom single-family homes priced below $50,000. The development will have landscaped walking paths, recreation areas, a community center, and a homeowners association to ensure the condition and appearance of the community are well maintained.

"East El Paso is growing rapidly and we are fortunate to have the creativity and dedication of Fannie Mae and Premier Communities, two private companies taking great strides toward creating the affordable housing we need here," said El Paso Mayor Carlos Ramirez.

Fannie Mae's Housing Impact Fund was created in 1991 as a venture investment fund to support housing-related activities that have a significant positive impact on local housing needs, but are not easily accommodated within the corporation's standard lines of business. Fund financing generally is directed toward first-time home buyers and households with incomes up to 100 percent of the area median income.

"I commend these partners for addressing a critical need in our community -- quality, affordable housing," said U.S. Representative Silvestre Reyes (D-TX). "Hard working families deserve the opportunity to achieve the American dream of homeownership."

Premier Communities, a joint venture between Corporación GEO, S.A. de C.V., the largest builder of affordable homes in the Americas, and Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (BZH/NYSE), a top ten builder of single-family homes in the U.S., will focus exclusively on the development, construction, and sale of affordable housing priced below $50,000. Oasis Ranch is the joint venture's first project, with future efforts also to be focused along the Mexican border in Texas and other cities with affordable housing shortages in Arizona, California, Florida and Puerto Rico.

"Premier Communities is proud to be working with Fannie Mae to help meet El Paso's need for well-built, affordable homes," said Alberto Medina, president of Premier Communities. "The power of this partnership will help hundreds of El Paso families achieve their dream of homeownership."

"Fannie Mae's Housing Impact Fund offers innovative, flexible private sector funding that can be essential to the ability of our partners to develop affordable housing," said Michael T. Hernandez, housing impact vice president in the company's Southwestern Regional Office in Dallas. "Fannie Mae and Premier Communities are working together to carry out our critical mission of increasing homeownership for hardworking El Pasoans."

Fannie Mae's Housing Impact Fund provides loans of up to five years to nonprofit and for-profit developers, as well as local governments, for the development of single-family and multifamily housing. Loan proceeds provided under this fund can be used for site acquisition, pre-development, rehabilitation of older low-income rental housing developments, soft construction costs and other unique affordable housing investments.

Oasis Ranch is located on Montana Avenue, east of Lee Trevino at Cinema Park. For more information on homeownership opportunities at Oasis Ranch, please call the sales center at 915-591-6564.