FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — We’ve talked often about the difficulty of buying a home today, with rising prices and high mortgage interest rates.<\/p>\n
California’s Dream For All program will lend first-time buyers up to $150,000.<\/p>\n
“What it does, it helps people with a pretty significant down payment of 20% of the value of the home, for folks who’ve got good credit scores, steady jobs,” says Eric Johnson with the California Housing Finance Agency.<\/p>\n
Maybe they’ve had trouble saving for a large down payment.<\/p>\n
Central California families can make up to $148,000 a year to qualify.<\/p>\n
Applications will be accepted through March 16.<\/p>\n
Vouchers will be drawn in each region to ensure people throughout the state can access the funding.<\/p>\n
Well, the very first time we did this program, we ran through all the money and it was committed in about 11 days,” Johnson said. “That’s just not fair. This shouldn’t be like a Taylor Swift show. This is something where we want to make sure everybody has the opportunity.”<\/p>\n
About $150 million is available through Dream For All.<\/p>\n
In 2024,18,000 people applied and 2,000 were accepted.<\/p>\n
Johnson figures that the same number will be granted a loan, which eventually must be paid back.<\/p>\n
“The long-term goal is that when somebody buys a home with one of these loans and then they sell or refinance the home, they have to pay back that money with some extra, and then we use those funds to fund the next round of homebuyers,” he said.<\/p>\n
If you were a foster child, you also qualify for the program.<\/p>\n
You need to go through an HFA-approved lender for this program.<\/p>\n
Click here<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n For news updates, follow Dale Yurong on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2026 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n