Down Payment Resource (DPR), a nationwide data base for U.S. homebuyer assistance programs (HAPs), released itsfirst-quarter 2022 Homeownership Program Index. The index found a net increase in the number of HAPs from fourth quarter 2021 to first quarter 2022.
Of the 2,238 HAPs analyzed by DPR, it found 84.9 percent of them were actively funded and available. Of the 46 new HAPs introduced during first quarter of 2022, 32 were programs designed to assist with second mortgages which DPR defines as “loans with very low or no interest rate where the payment may be deferred or forgiven incrementally for each year the buyer remains in the home.” Over a third of all HAPs now offer assistance to those who are not first-time homebuyers.
The first quarter also saw a 5.7 percent gain in nonprofit-sponsored HAPs and a 2.3 percent increase in HAPS operating in defined locales. A number of HAPs opened eligibility to manufactured homes in the fourth quarter of 2021 and first quarter of 2022. Nearly 29 percent of all HAPs now support the purchase of manufactured homes.
“Both the number of homebuyer assistance programs and the volume of available funding increased in Q1 2022, a trend we have observed for several consecutive quarters,” DPR CEO Rob Chrane said. “With affordability on the decline in 79 percent of U.S. counties and the availability of homebuying assistance on the rise, homebuyers need real estate agents and mortgage lenders to connect them with programs that make homeownership more affordable.”