California / IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Help for First-Time Home Buyers OKd

A state agency approved Gov. Pete Wilson’s proposal to use public money to help first-time buyers purchase homes with a down payment as small as 3%. The program, known as the CAL-Home Buyer Loan Program, will finance mortgages for buyers with incomes as high as 140% of the median in the county in which the home is located. The price of the homes eligible for the program can be as high as 100% of the median for that area, or $200,000 in the highest-priced parts of the state. The proposal was approved Thursday by the state Housing Finance Agency, an independent agency created in 1977 to assist home buyers through the sale of tax-free bonds. The agency set aside $50 million in unused bond funds, which will fund about 500 to 600 mortgages.