Newark, New Jersey, is looking to attract homebuyers with $1 houses.
City officials held their first lottery of the city-owned properties on Monday, and seven winners were selected to buy the $1 homes.
The winners were chosen from a group who pre-qualified last year for Newark’s Home Ownership Revitalization Program, a program that sells city-owned properties for $1.
The available properties are deteriorated, in need of work, and were seized by the city for non-payment and public debts.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka promised the city will be selling more houses in a future lottery.
Howard Kingsnorth | Stone | Getty Images
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said that while only seven homes were included in this first round, there are more properties to come.
“We have a few properties and as we get more we’ll put more out there, so if you’re not in the lottery and picked today, by God’s grace you’ll be picked sometime in the near soon future,” Baraka said during a press conference, according to ABC.
To be eligible for the Home Ownership Revitalization Program, buyers must have lived in Newark for at least five years or be city residents displaced by gentrification. Those who bought the $1 homes must commit to living in the properties for at least 10 years and undergo homebuying counseling.
Officials said the hope is that the properties will be rehabilitated into multi-family homes.
The average home value in Newark is $428,985, up 6.6% over the past year, according to Zillow. According to the mayor’s office, only 25% of Newark residents are homeowners.
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