Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation loosening restrictions on the state’s housing authority to provide mortgages to Michigan residents.

House Bill 5032, passed by the state Legislature late last year with some bipartisan support, allows the Michigan State Housing Development Authority to remove 2009-era price caps that limited borrowers using the state’s mortgage lending program to homes priced below $224,500.

The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Will Snyder, D-Muskegon, allows MSHDA to instead implement an annually updated index from the federal Internal Revenue Service that moves with the market. An MSHDA memo last month says that with the new calculation, borrowers could purchase a house priced up to just more than $510,000 — 90% of the federally allowed limit — and still qualify for the program in every Michigan county.

In addition to the bill allowing MSHDA to remove the price caps for mortgage lending, Whitmer also signed two bills related to the authority’s operational and financing mechanics, which taken together will “allow MSHDA to streamline operations to better use its tools to combat housing access barriers in the State,” according to a legislative analysis.

Whitmer signed all three bills Thursday.

“Access to affordable housing has long been a top concern of Michiganders. This package addresses the housing crisis head on by helping provide more housing, easing the home-buying process and keeping our youth in the state,” Snyder said in the release. “Allowing the state to more easily pursue larger projects will make affordable housing more plentiful. I am thrilled to see these bills signed into law, and I look forward to witnessing the positive effect they will have in our communities and working folks.”