WASHINGTON, DC-The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has reportedly failed for the first time to sell $450 million in distressed home loans.

The agency determined that bids received at an Oct. 30 sale were too low to accept. Since 2010, the agency has sold about 50,000 non-performing single-family loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration to investors willing to either help keep the borrowers in their homes or rehab the properties for sale, according to Bloomberg News. The mortgages HUD chose not to sell last month were in two pools that had the highest debt relative to the value of underlying properties, people knowledgeable with the deal told the news service.

“If you can get someone who's willing to take these notes and fix the mortgages, or the properties and rent them out or transfer them to a nonprofit, the idea is that you're not hurting places that have been hit hard by foreclosures,” said Andrew Jakabovics, senior director of policy development at Enterprise Community Partners and a former HUD policy adviser. “It's about striking that balance but also making sure that they're not giving properties away far below what the value is.” See story at Bloomberg News.