The collapse of the subprime mortgage market has largely overshadowed one simple truth: the large number of borrowers who make regular payments and wouldn’t own a home if not for the loans.

These are the home buyers cited by subprime lenders as a social justification for their risky, and until the last few months, extremely profitable business model.

George Poppe is one of them.

The freight forwarding executive took out a pair of subprime loans last August to buy his first house a 1,800-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath abode in Westchester. He borrowed $733,000 at 7.4 percent interest from HomEQ Servicing Corp. and $180,000 from New Century Financial Corp.

He now lives there with his girlfriend and their 8-year-old son, and said he would not have been able to buy the house without the loans.

“I think that this loan has helped me out quite a bit,” said the 50-year-old regional manager for Airways Freight Corp. “This is my first house and I wanted to go into it with no money down.”

Poppe didn’t say what his monthly mortgage payment is but based on standard repayment formulas it would likely be over $5,000 a monthly nut that he said he has been able to cover since buying the home last summer.

Not all subprime buyers are able to say that. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, 13.3 percent of loan payments were delinquent in the last three months of 2006 the highest level in more than four years.

Subprime loans are generally offered to borrowers who have damaged credit, a limited borrowing history or may not be able to fully document their incomes. In Poppe’s case, he had to verify his income but didn’t need to put money down.

Of course, lenders offset the higher risk by charging higher interest rates. But for borrowers like Poppe it’s often the only way they can get into a home, re-establish their credit and expand upon their often limited borrowing experience.

Indeed, Poppe said he has taken out car loans but has never borrowed in such magnitude. And like many borrowers who take out big subprime loans, Poppe hopes to refinance, specifically after three years when the rate on his primary loan will adjust upward.

Though he doesn’t know the current value of his house, Poppe said the homes in surrounding neighborhoods are valued at between $700,000 and $2.2 million and seem to be holding steady. If that remains true when he needs to refinance in 2009, Poppe should have an easier time refinancing.

“The subprime loan allowed many people who couldn’t otherwise get home loans to get them,” said Yongheng Deng, associate professor of policy, planning and development at the University of Southern California who has tracked the mortgage markets. “There’s a huge demand out there for this product.”

For many people a subprime loan does not make sense, but Poppe maintains that after looking around it was the best available option for him. “I just think that for me I was better off with it,” he said.