Now is your last chance to apply for Alameda County program to help buy your first home

Looking to buy a home in Alameda County? Now is your last chance to apply for an interest-free loan from a local program that helps first-time homebuyers afford a down payment.

AC Boost, a $50 million county effort launched in 2019, is accepting applications through May 15 for its final round of funding.

To qualify, applicants must be first-time homebuyers who live or work in Alameda County or have been displaced from a home there in the last 10 years. Eligible buyers can borrow up to $210,000, depending on their income. Applicants can earn no more than 120% of the area’s median income. That’s $177,500 for a family of four.

In March, the typical price for a single-family home in the county hit $1.4 million, a 16% jump from the same time last year, according to the California Association of Realtors. A 20% downpayment on a home that price? A cool $280,000. On top of the price spike, stubbornly high mortgage rates have pushed homeownership even further out of reach for many residents.

In addition to helping priced-out homebuyers, the program aims to close the county’s stark racial homeownership gap, in part the result of decades of discriminatory real estate laws and lending practices. A Bay Area News Group analysis last year found that 61% of White households in Alameda County owned their homes, compared to 40% of Hispanic households and 31% of Black households.

“AC Boost is breaking down longstanding barriers experienced by underrepresented homebuyers, advancing equitable homeownership in Alameda County,” Jennifer Duffy, president of Hello Housing, which helps run the program, said in a statement.

After the application period closes, the county will hold a lottery to select buyers, who will be asked to attend a mandatory program workshop. Buyers can then submit a final application to show their eligibility. Once approved, they can start looking for a home.

Buyers don’t have to start repaying the interest-free loan for 30 years, or until the home is sold or the owner no longer wishes to live there. At that point, the owner repays the amount they borrowed plus a proportional share of the increase in the value of their home.

So far, AC Boost has helped 233 low- and middle-income households afford a home, lending almost $40 million in total. It wasn’t immediately clear how many more households could receive loans.

To learn more about how to apply for the program, go to www.ACBoost.org.

California also has a separate downpayment assistance program for first-time homebuyers. The application deadline for the latest round is April 29. To learn more about that program, visit https://www.calhfa.ca.gov/dream/.