And the California dream will continue…for those that are feeling lucky! After tremendous interest for the launch of the state’s “Dream For All” first-time buyers program last Spring, the California Housing Finance Agency is updating the loan reservation process for phase II.
Following a $220 million allocation of additional funds, CalHFA will open a pre-registration portal on April 3 and will accept applications until 5 p.m. on April 29. CalHFA anticipates that demand for Dream For All phase II will exceed available funding and will use a randomized selection process to issue vouchers for a DFA loan.
Voucher recipients will then have 90 days to shop for a home, enter into a contract to purchase a home, and for the lender to reserve the loan through CalHFA’s Mortgage Access System.
The program initially launched in 2023 with $300 million in funding available. All funds were reserved in less than two weeks.
CalHFA will allocate available funds to nine geographic regions. Each region’s allocation will be based on the number of households in that region and DFA vouchers will be issued based on the available funds in each region. The applicant’s current address will determine which region their application will be placed in for the random selection process.
The regions include the Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma Counties); Capital (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties); Central Coast (Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Ventura Counties); Central Valley (Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare Counties); Inland Empire (Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties); Los Angeles County; Orange County; Rural Areas (Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Lake, Lassen, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne and Yuba Counties); and San Diego County.
The California “Dream For All” program provides first-time homebuyers with financial assistance equal to 20 percent of a home’s purchase price, with the funds being used for a downpayment and closing costs. Once a “Dream For All” homebuyer sells their home in the future, they are required to pay back the 20 percent assistance, plus 20 percent of the home’s appreciation. If the home sells without any growth in value, the seller would only pay back the original 20 percent loan.
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