We’re of two minds about the city of Bend’s decision to lend $500,000 to the Central Oregon Builders Association’s Building Partners for Affordable Housing. The money will be used to put up 10 “green” houses that will sell for about $140,000 each.

The money is coming from the city’s affordable housing fee program, which collects one-third of 1 percent of the total value of every building permit issued by the city. The fund was established at the height of the housing bubble here, when affordable housing really was a critical concern.

In one respect the $500,000 will be put to good use. The project will employ people in an industry that’s been hard hit by the recession and housing market collapse. That’s good news. So, too, is news that others who have received money from the city under the program in the past have paid about half of it back so far.

All is not rosy, however. According to the Central Oregon Association of Realtors, there currently are 91 homes priced at $140,000 or less for sale within the city limits, plus another 28 condominiums. Were no more houses added to the supply, it would take about 3.5 months to sell off what’s already available at $149,999 or less, COAR’s executive director, Kathy Ragsdale, says. While it’s not a direct apples-to-apples comparison, it’s clear there is no great shortage of relatively inexpensive homes for sale already.

The news about one of the housing fund’s other grants doesn’t make this one look any better, either. Central Oregon Regional Housing Authority will receive $118,000 to convert the top floor of its Putnam Pointe development downtown into low-income rentals.

The building always was going to have affordable rental space, though the city of Bend and the housing authority had hoped to finance a good chunk of it with the sale of relatively inexpensive condominiums on the upper floors. Trouble was, the condos weren’t cheap for the space involved, and only one actually sold. At least if the units are converted to rental housing, some of the cost of construction can be recaptured.

In the end, the city’s plan to put money into affordable housing right now is misguided, short-term jobs or no. It is not obligated to pay the housing fund down, and given the swings that historically have been part of the Bend market, city officials might be smarter to build the fund up. That would give them enough dough to really make a difference the next time affordable housing is hard to come by.