Program for Black homebuyers in San Diego County offers up to $70K
The median price of a home in San Diego has reached up to $750,000, out of reach for many Black people shopping for homes.
A new program in San Diego is hoping to close some of its city’s wealth gap and disparity in homeownership by offering Black families up to $70,000 toward the purchase of a home.
“Thirty-one percent of Black families in San Diego own their own home versus 65 [percent] of white families,” says Ricardo Flores of Local Initiative Support Corporation San Diego. “That’s unacceptable. It’s always been unacceptable.”
The San Diego Black Homebuyer Program is a down payment assistance grant initiative that has been seeded by a $1 million contribution from the San Diego Foundation Black Community Investment Fund. It aims to eradicate the racial wealth gap in San Diego County through investment in wealth-building opportunities through Black homeownership.
The median price of a home in San Diego has reached up to $750,000 this year. The rising market rates have put homeownership out of reach for many Black families.
“Nowadays, if you own a home, you have rent control,” says Flores. “Your rent isn’t going up once a year. You have stability. That’s important in this world we’re living in now where rent escalation continues.”
To qualify for the program, applicants must be first-time homebuyers living in San Diego County and must qualify for a mortgage. The Urban League of San Diego will provide training to homebuyers.
Flores said the training is to “ensure when the Urban League has a mortgage for a family, that family can actually stay in that house, live in that house and actually qualify. We don’t want to set people up for failure either.”
This HUD-approved educational series is geared towards teaching the basics, from A to Z, in the home-buying process. Together, with their professional partners, the San Diego Urban League provides an overview of the steps to homeownership so buyers can set goals for homeownership.
Attendance will be required in all four sessions to receive the HUD-approved certificate.
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