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Restricted Resale Homeownership
![](https://www.tpc-habitat.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Angelas-completed-home-crop-1629494774-1920x1024.jpg)
With home costs continuing to rise while incomes lag behind, homeownership is fast becoming an impossible dream. The average home sale price in Pierce County is well above $500,000 leaving first-time home buyers priced out of the market, and very little options for moderate to low income families.
Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity aims to change that with a new homeownership model: restricted resale.
This new model, structured like a land lease, provides permanent affordability and preserves the homeowners’ initial investment while also providing future generations continued access to affordable homeownership.
Here’s how:
- The homeowner buys only the house—not the land—which makes the purchase price more affordable.
- The land itself is leased by the homeowners, from Tacoma Habitat, in a long-term, renewable and inheritable lease (often a 99-year term).
- Homebuyers agree to ensure the home’s ongoing affordability by:
- Accepting an annual 1.5% equity cap
- Offering Tacoma Habitat the opportunity to buy back the home before offering it on the market
- If/when selling the home on the market, selling only to another income-qualified buyer, at a restricted price
Lower sale price + resale restriction = Lower price at resale = Permanent affordability
To learn more about our homeownership program, please click here.