Newark Sells Homes For $1, Fights Back Against Housing Crisis

NEWARK, NJ — It’s hard to find anything you can buy for a dollar these days. But in Newark, $1 can buy you more than just a pack of gum – it can get you an entire house.

That’s the price of a home sold under the city’s Homeownership Revitalization Program, which offers Newark residents a chance to purchase a city-owned property – as long as they promise to fix it up and live in it for at least 10 years.

Prospective buyers must have lived in Newark for five years or more, or been displaced by “gentrification.” See Related: Buy A House For A Buck? Newark Can Sell Homes For $1 Under New Rule

On Monday, officials hosted their first-ever public “lottery” for the program at City Hall, awarding seven homes to pre-qualified applicants (see photos above). The city plans to hold more lotteries in the near future.

Newark residents can learn how to apply to the program or get more information by calling NACA Newark at 973-679-2601, or accessing the Homeownership Revitalization Program FAQ at tinyurl.com/Dollar-Lottery.

Only one in four people in New Jersey's largest city own their own home, reports say. See Related: Corporations Own Most Of Newark's Homes. New Laws Are Pushing Back

“Across America, [corporations] are buying up owner-occupied homes and turning them into corporately-owned, expensive rental units,” Mayor Ras Baraka said Monday, trumpeting the city’s inaugural $1 sale.

“In Newark, where we work hard to expand homeownership, we have created a wide-ranging strategy to do everything possible to counter this dangerous trend,” Baraka continued.

“The ‘dollar sale’ initiative is an innovative way to help longtime Newark residents become homeowners at costs that they can afford – and thereby simultaneously close the wealth gap, and increase equity and financial health for Newark residents,” he added.

“This partnership will set the national standard for affordable homeownership on a large scale,” agreed Bruce Marks, founder of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, which is teaming up with the city to run the Homeownership Revitalization Program.

• See Related: 'Affordable' Isn't Affordable: Newark's Plan To Create More Housing
• See Related: Newark Residents Get 'First Dibs' On Affordable Housing Under IZO

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