California’s first-time home buyers program, Dream For All, ran out of cash after just 11 days as over 2,500 people applied.
Overall, the eight counties that make up the Central San Joaquin Valley – ranging from Kern County to San Joaquin County – made up 21 percent of the program’s total.
The backstory: The Dream for All program provides downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers.
- Applicants who receive the assistance will repay the state the provided loan plus 20 percent of the appreciation in the value of the home when they sell.
- California opened up the application period in late March, but by April 6 had to stop taking applications because the $300 million program was already tapped out.
The big picture: San Joaquin County and Kern County placed in the top 10 of applicants in the state. San Joaquin County made up six percent of the applicants, placing sixth, while Kern County rounded out the top 10 with 4 percent of the applicants, according to data provided by the California Housing Finance Agency.
- San Joaquin County had 146 applicants who combined for $15.1 million in assistance from the state.
- Kern County had 112 applicants who received a combined $8.1 million in assistance.
State of play: Kings County and Madera Counties were some of the poorest performing counties in California with the program.
- Only 11 people in Kings County took advantage of the program, totalling $738,114 in assistance.
- Madera County was even worse with only 9 people who received a combined $746,478 from the state.
- Both counties have a population of over 150,000 residents.
Go deeper: Fresno County had 90 applicants totaling $7.5 million in assistance, Stanislaus County had 71 applicants combing for $6.7 million in assistance, Tulare County had 54 residents who received $3.6 million and Merced County had 46 people who also received a total of $3.6 million.
