A program offering up to $160,000 in financial assistance to prospective homebuyers will soon give them a compelling reason to consider moving to the city of Ontario.

The Ontario City Council voted unanimously this month to initiate a pilot program aimed at attracting and helping first-time homebuyers and homeowners in general.

“To me, this is really good stuff … most of the time you don’t hear about anything like this in a community where we have done well financially,” Mayor Paul S. Leon said at the council’s June 17 meeting.

The program offers first-time homebuyers down payment loans up to $120,000, and loans up to $30,000 for home rehabilitation and grants up to $10,000 for exterior improvements are available to qualified homebuyers and current homeowners.

Homebuyers can use the down payment loan for the down payment and closing costs and requires no monthly payment for 30 years. The home improvement loan is interest-free, according to the city.

To qualify for the program, applicants must earn less than $87,300 a year for a single resident and less than $124,700 for a family of four. The program is limited to people moving to Ontario, graduates of Ontario-area high schools, former residents who are returning to town, and those who are employed within the city.

Applicants can qualify for all three programs, giving them a total of $160,000 toward a home in Ontario, where the median home price in May was $695,000, according to Realtor.com.

Both the down payment and home improvement loans are forgivable after 30 years and would need to be repaid should the applicant decide to leave Ontario before the end of the agreement, according to city officials.

The city has allocated $1.8 million for the pilot program, with the funds coming from a 1% sales tax increase approved by voters in 2022.

According to Helen McAlary, the city’s executive director of Community Life and Culture, the city received interest from at least 80 people within the first day of the website going live for the program

“We already have a lot of interest in it, we’re just grateful for the opportunity to do a program like this,” McAlary said in an interview.

New and existing homes that are not mobile homes will qualify for the program, according to McAlary.

“It’s very innovative, and not a ton of cities are doing it. I think it’s just an exciting opportunity for our residents and also for us as staff, and I know for our council too, to see,” McAlary said. “We’re just excited to see that first person holding the keys to their new house.”

The program will continue until the funds have been exhausted, said McAlary.

Applications will soon go live and those interested can visit ontarioca.gov for more information.