When the California Housing Finance Agency was created in 1975 in Governor Jerry Brown’s first term, the mission was simple: help low- and moderate-income families buy their first home.
More than 40 years later, amid skyrocketing housing prices and near-record low homeownership rates, that goal is getting harder and harder to attain. So much so that the agency, known as CalHFA, has quite literally redefined what it means to be “moderate-income” in California — and their definition of “moderate” may be different than yours.
In fiscal year 2016, only 124 households making over $100,000 obtained a loan through CalHFA, accounting for only three percent of the mortgages offered by the agency.
During the first 11 months of fiscal year 2018, nearly 1,000 households making over that amount obtained a loan — accounting for 14 percent of CalHFA’s mortgages. Those that earn over $85,000 now comprise 30% of CalHFA borrowers, according to exclusive data provided by the agency.
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