Brooke and Derek Avakian only exchanged wedding rings six months ago, but thanks to a new affordable housing program they’ll be able to make a newlyweds’ dream come true: own their own home.

Mr. and Mrs. Avakian were the first winners in a lottery last night for the Edgartown affordable home-buyer program. Administered by the town affordable housing committee and the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority, the so-called buy-down program will provide mortgage subsidies of up to $200,000 to the applicants, who in turn will be able to buy existing homes on the open market.

“I can’t believe it,” Mrs. Avakian said. “I guess it’s the next step!”

“I’m very excited,” Mr. Avakian said at a loss for words.

The couple will now have 21 days to shop for homes listed in the open market, which were vetted by the committee. Pre-approved options include a two-bedroom, two-bathroom house on 22nd street for $450,000; a home with three bedrooms and one-and-a-half baths on Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road for $375,000; and a two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath bathroom home for $429,000 in Island Grove, and more are available every day.

“We have a good inventory of houses, maybe three or four solid ones and we’re working on a couple of others,” committee member Mark Hess said before the lottery. “We’ve reached out to realtors [for more] and gotten a great response from them.”

After the Avakians close on a house, the second applicants drawn in Thursday’s lottery, Doug and Amy Heil, will have 21 days to shop for their home, followed by Heather Ann Slayton, Kathleen and Marc Brasefield, and Susan Markwica.

“There isn’t any questions that each of these five people will get a home,” Mr. Hess added.

The subsidies come from a $1.6 million pledge by the developers of the Field Club in Edgartown three years ago, in lieu of providing three affordable housing lots in the private club’s Katama subdivision. The money was deposited into an affordable housing trust set up by the town, but the final payment of about $300,000 is due by the end of the year.

The homes available meet certain quality standards and are expected not to need any major renovations for the first five years. The committee assesses what rehab needs to be done before the applicant moves in — replacing windows, perhaps insulating a converted summer home or putting in new window screens.

The program is geared toward people of moderate income who are short of being able to afford a mortgage for a starter home, those who are just out of reach or doing the seasonal shuffle. People who live or work in Edgartown and earn between 100 and 150 per cent of median income were eligible for the program, with an income ranging from a two-person household earning of $65,900 a year to a six-person household earning $143,400 a year.

The committee will wait for a month or two before doing a second round of drawings if more Islanders apply. The program is a one-shot deal — once all $1.6 million is spent subsidizing the mortgages, the program will be filed away.

But Dukes County Regional Housing Authority executive director David Vigneault said towns across the Island could be watching this program as a new way to deal with an ongoing problem.

“It’s really an innovative approach to addressing some needs that the town perceives exists at certain income and ability levels,” Mr. Vigneault said earlier this week. “Edgartown has tried a lot of different things and done innovative things and this is the latest in trying to offer a spectrum of opportunities for folks.”

Mr. Vigneault praised the creative use of the Field Club money, particularly the timing of reusing existing housing.

“It’s always the best bet,” he said, and pointed to the success of a similar program on Cape Cod. “The use of the Field Club money is a creative opportunity that doesn’t come along too often, especially out here with the market availability and that’s a high level of subsidy.”