the “Dream For All” lottery allows you to win a zero-interest home loan of up to $150,000

California launched a somewhat unusual lottery at the beginning of April. The goal is to facilitate access to property in one of the tightest markets in the United States.

The program is called “Dream For All”, “the dream for all”, the American dream, that of having your house with a white fence in front. Those who want to participate have until the end of April to prepare an application. If they are chosen by the lottery, California will loan them 20 percent of the purchase price up to the limit of $150,000. Enough to normally pay the deposit for property aspirants who receive a salary high enough to pay the monthly payments for the purchase of a house, but not necessarily the savings to pay the deposit requested by the banks.

It is therefore a loan, but the beneficiary only repays it at the time of the possible resale of the house in addition to 20% of the capital gain if there is one. Which makes it possible to finance this “Dream for All” for future owners. The state has set aside about $250 million to fund the program, which is expected to help between 1,700 and 2,000 Californians.

Black households are less likely to own homes than whites

Not everyone can participate in this lottery. For example, you cannot participate if your parents already own a home themselves. The program targets Californians who do not have “generational wealth”, that is to say family potentially capable of supporting them financially in such a purchase, even if having parents who own a house does not necessarily mean being rich. But that’s a difference from 2023, when the program was first implemented.

For its first edition, the program was on a first-come basis, not a lottery. But some, finding out too late, did not have time to prepare their file. As the desire of this Dream For All is about social justice by helping minorities in particular. For example, 37% of black households are homeowners in California, compared to 63% of white households. And only 3% of black households took advantage of the program in 2023. A lottery seemed more suitable this time. Another difference: taking into account population densities. Last year, the Sacramento region, the state capital, was over-represented compared to Los Angeles, which is much more populated, for example.

Median home price: $750,000

Finding accommodation in California is sometimes complicated. Lhe Golden State lives up to its name, $750,000 is the median price for a house in California, almost a million in Los Angeles. Even with two good salaries, a family’s horizon is often limited to an apartment. And still, only one in two Californians own their home. Real estate prices are among the highest in the country, as are gasoline and food prices and tax rates. This is one of the reasons why the state loses tens of thousands of residents each year, who settle in neighboring Arizona and Nevada or in Texas, more affordable places.