Mayor announces $100k forgivable loans for Fresno home buyers. Here’s who would qualify

The city of Fresno will soon make loans of up to $100,000 for would-be homebuyers, thanks to a $4.1 million infusion of money from the state of California.

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer announced the new mortgage assistance program during his annual State of the City address Wednesday in downtown Fresno. The announcement drew enthusiastic applause from a sellout crowd at the Fresno Convention Center Exhibit Hall.

“What Fresno really needs is more home ownership,” Dyer said. He noted that nationally, about 60% of people own their homes, compared to 40% who are renters. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey indicates that homeownership nationwide is actually at more than 65%.

The ownership rate in Fresno, however, is considerably lower — just a tick above 50%. Fresno’s lower ownership rate represents “a significant loss in home equity and personal wealth for people who live in our city,” Dyer said.

The money for the mortgage assistance program comes from the state’s Permanent Local Housing Allocation. The state Department of Housing & Community Development awarded the city more than $5.8 million in February.

“These funds can be applied toward the purchase price of a home and/or the required down payment, thanks to state funding,” Dyer said. “There are no monthly payments toward the $100,000 loan, and if a person lives in that home for 15 years, that loan becomes forgivable.”

“That’s an incredible deal for the citizens of Fresno,” he added.

The loans are available on an income-eligible basis to households with annual incomes that fall below 80% of the “area median income.” In Fresno County, the state estimates the area median income for a four-person household at $80,300. The household income to qualify for the city’s loan program would need to be at or below $64,240. Those figures range higher or lower depending on how many people are in a household.

“I don’t think every one of (the loans) is going to be $100,000,” Dyer told The Fresno Bee after the speech. “But there’s a potential to help 50, 60, 70 people in our city become homeowners.”

Dyer noted real estate prices that have climbed substantially compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as rising interest rates. “This is much needed for a lot of our people in Fresno who have not had the opportunity to own a home,” he said.

People who already own a home will not be able to participate in the program, he added. “If people have already gotten into a home, like I have, we’ve built our equity, got in at a lower interest rate, and when the cost of housing was a little bit lower,” Dyer said. “This money is intended specifically for this purpose, to help people who perhaps won’t have an opportunity to get into a home.”

Details on the program are available online at www.fresno.gov/mayor/office-of-community-affairs/homebuyer-resources/, or by calling the city’s Housing & Community Development division at 559-621-8300.

Additional housing efforts downtown

Dyer also spoke to the need for development of additional housing in the downtown area to bring a spark of new vitality to the languishing district. He said that what apartments are available in downtown not only have a six-month waiting list for would-be residents, but also vacancy rates near zero.

“We definitely need more housing to meet that demand,” he said.

“Fortunately, several housing projects are underway,” he added, ticking off developments including the former JCPenney retail store building with 100 units, the Helm Building with 99 units, “as well as the Radisson Hotel that was recently purchased that will be converted into housing downtown.”

Sevak Khatchadourian, a businessman and developer who earlier this year joined with partners to buy the former Radisson Hotel on Van Ness Avenue across the street from the Fresno County Courthouse Park, told The Fresno Bee on Wednesday that the fate of the building has not been determined yet.

“We’re not decided 100% yet,” said Khatchadourian, who also owns the Helm Building and the Pacific Southwest Building, both on Fulton Street near the Radisson. “We’re working with three different consultants and we are analyzing all of the options.”

But, he added, some sort of housing, hotel or long-term stay project are among the possibilities being evaluated. “It’s still too early to determine for sure, though,” Khatchadourian said.

Fresno is set to receive $250 million in money for downtown infrastructure from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s May 2023 budget proposal, if it is approved by state legislators; Dyer said the city also has an application pending for another $44 million for downtown infrastructure such as modernized water and sewer lines, road improvements and additional parking.

“Without the infrastructure in place, such as water, sewer, roads and parking … the number of housing units in downtown Fresno will be extremely limited.

The state grants are “the boost we need in Fresno to transform our downtown nightlife,” he said. “We just need to get it over the finish line.”