California: Housing Perks on Rise for Middle Class

By: Gary Polakovic: REALTOR® Magazine Online
With the median home price at a whopping $480,000 in February, employers in Southern California are offering housing incentives to attract and retain middle-class workers.

A proposal from Los Angeles Councilman Greig Smith, a reserve officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, will revamp the city-administered down-payment assistance program to give low-interest loans of $50,000 to $90,000 to police officers and firefighters.

The University of Southern California also has a housing program, offering $25,000 in monthly payments over a seven-year period to workers who purchase homes near its two campuses.

Another local university, the University of California, Irvine, has 900 single-family homes, townhomes, and condominiums on 200 acres that can be purchased by employees-who lease the land--for 40 percent less than the fair market value.