Home buyers qualifying for FHA-insured mortgages may soon use the first-time home buyer $8,000 tax credit as a down payment, US Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan said Wednesday in a speech at the National Association of Realtors Real Estate Summit. The plan will allow the tax credit to be used as a down payment for new home buyers, although details on the initiative aren’t scheduled for official release until this week.

 Called ‘monetization’ in the industry, the initiative will allow FHA-approved lenders to monetize the tax credit through short-term bridge loans, letting borrowers access the funds at the closing table. Even before the announcement, nearly a dozen states have been providing similar bridge loans through their housing finance agencies. There are currently 10 states that have a similar program, and that number is expected to increase.