"For many California families, the dream of owning their own home will remain just that," said the association's president, Toby Bradley. "Teachers, nurses and firemen can't afford to live in the very communities in which they serve."

With the establishment of the foundation, Bradley said, California Realtors are leading the way in making the American dream a reality for these hardworking families.

Soaring home prices and rents increasing faster than incomes are having an adverse impact on the housing market, according to the association's research. The ability to find, qualify for and purchase a home in 21st-century California is a challenge for many residents, regardless of income level, ethnicity or location. The state's median home price increased 64 percent between 1990 and 2002, from $193,770 to $318,580, while median household income rose only 52 percent during the same time period, from $35,800 to $54,280. Recent analyses of the housing gap indicate that the state faces a housing shortfall of 80,000 to 100,000 units each year.

"Although the California Association of Realtors addresses housing issues in the public policy arena both in Sacramento and in Washington, D.C., there is no formal program to provide direct assistance to potential homebuying households or to increase and maintain the supply of housing in the state," Bradley said. The Housing Affordability Fund offers an avenue to provide that assistance directly to the communities that need it most.

The California Association of Realtors Housing Affordability Fund will solicit donations from more than 110,000 Realtor members as well as other individuals and institutions committed to solving the housing problem in California. The fund's resources will be distributed through local Realtor associations that have submitted requests for local programs that directly address housing affordability and housing supply issues within their communities. The Housing Affordability Fund is committed to raising $20 million over a five-year period.

"As they did more than a decade ago, California Realtors are rising to meet the housing affordability challenge," said Bradley. "Many of the same factors that produced the housing crisis in the 1980s remain the same: population pressure, growth-control issues and escalating home prices showing few, if any, signs of abatement."

The California Association of Realtors is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with more than 110,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate.

Information provided in this column is presented by the Realtor members of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors at www.silvar.org. Send questions on any topic to jnewton@jnpr.com.