CA Homebuyers Could Get $150K From The State
Registration for the loan program for first-time buyers opens Wednesday. California has earmarked $220 million for the Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan program, which aims to provide up to 2,000 vouchers to first-time buyers. The program provides up to 20 percent of down payment or closing costs not exceeding $150,000. All qualifying households must be first-generation buyers, meet agency limits for the county where the purchase takes place, and the recipient must repay the loan as well as a share of the property's appreciation in value. The vouchers will be allocated using a lottery based on each area's share of state households. Demand for the loans is expected to be high due to rising home prices.
Published : a month ago by Anna Schier in Politics Health
California has earmarked $220 million this year for the Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan program and expects to distribute up to 2,000 vouchers to first-time buyers, according to state Sen. Toni Atkins, a Democrat representing District 39. “This innovative program is designed to help Californians who might not otherwise have the opportunity to achieve the dream of homeownership,” the California Housing Finance Agency, which facilitates the program, said in an announcement earlier in the year.
The program provides up to 20 percent of down payment or closing costs not to exceed $150,000, according to the agency. For a household to qualify, all borrowers must be first-time buyers, at least one borrower must be a first-generation buyer and the household’s income must meet agency limits for the county where the purchase takes place. When a recipient sells or transfers a home bought through the program, they must repay the loan as well as a share of the property’s appreciation in value.
Recipients will be determined using a lottery to allocate vouchers for different regions based on each area’s share of state households, according to Atkins. Demand for the loans is expected to be high.
In 2023, the $300 million set aside for the program’s first phase was exhausted in 11 days, with 2,182 new homeowners — 55 percent of whom identified as people of color — receiving assistance. Home prices in the state have continued to rise. In February, California’s median home price was $806,490, according to the California Association of Realtors, up 2.2 percent over January and 9.7 percent from February 2023.