Homeownership

On Monday, the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) Board of Commissioners awarded $425,000 in state housing tax credits for homeownership development projects. Once sold to investors, the credits will yield nearly $2 million in equity for construction. The projects will create new, high-quality homes affordable to low- and moderate-income Vermont homebuyers, which are virtually unavailable in Vermont’s in private housing market.

The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University recently released their annual State of the Nation's Housing report 

VHFA released a draft program description and income limits this week for the Homeowner Assistance Fund that will start in the next few months.

Due to limited funding, applications for the current round of Vermont COVID Emergency Mortgage Assistance must be submitted by 4:00 PM on Wednesday, June 30, 2021.

VHFA is gathering input and data regarding two components of the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) slated to open later this year. HAF was created by the federal American Rescue Plan Act to provide relief for homeowners experiencing financial hardship after January 2020.

VHFA will be hosting two public meetings on June 1 and June 3 to discuss how to use federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to serve Vermont homeowners. The Homeowners Assistance Fund, created by the act, will provide Vermont up to $50 million over the next 3 years to provide assistance for mortgage payments and other expenses troubling homeowners with pandemic-related hardship.

The Vermont program that helps homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage or property taxes during the COVID-19 pandemic will re-open on Monday, May 3, 2021.  The Mortgage Assistance Program will provide grants covering up to 12 months of past due mortgage payments and property taxes for eligible homeowners.  

The Biden administration’s American Jobs Plan includes a program that would bring $8 million in housing tax credits each year for affordable homeownership in Vermont.

Home sale prices in Vermont continued to rise in 2020 amidst the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The median primary (non-vacation) home sold for $246,000, according to Vermont Property Transfer Tax records.

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded worldwide, VHFA focused on the shifting needs of Vermonters and stayed the course with long-standing tools and programs. In March, the agency swiftly found ways to support non-profit partners as well as to pivot to fully remote work.