Homeownership

The Vermont Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP) will continue to provide federal grants into 2023 for overdue housing costs incurred by homeowners impacted by the pandemic.  Since the program launched in January 2022, homeowners with delinquent mortgage, property tax, utility and property association fee bills have applied for approximately half of the $50 million federal funding award to Vermont.  

Increasing mortgage interest rates and home prices have rapidly made it much more difficult for Vermonters to purchase their first homes. About half as many renters can afford to purchase their first home in 2022 compared to 2021, based on VHFA’s recent analysis of sales price and interest rate trends.

National mortgage interest rates rose substantially from 2021 to 2022. The 30-year mortgage interest rate increased from 2.74% in January 2021 to 5.52% in June 2022. Meanwhile, Vermont’s home prices were also rising. The median primary home sold for $259,900 in January through June 2021, increasing to $295,000 in 2022.

On Monday, the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) Board of Commissioners awarded $708,000 in Vermont State Affordable Housing Tax Credits for homeownership development projects. Once sold to investors, the credits will yield nearly $3.4 million in equity for home construction costs and energy-efficient manufactured homes. The projects will create new, high-quality homes, which are needed more than ever as low- and moderate-income homebuyers continue to face an extremely challenging housing market.  

Over $11 million of a $50 million program to pay overdue housing costs for homeowners impacted by the pandemic has been disbursed within the first six months of the program. The Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) launched the Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP) in January 2022 with funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. It provides grants of up to $30,000 for income-eligible homeowners. 

The median Vermont primary home sold for $295,000 throughout the first six months of 2022, compared to $270,000 throughout 2021, a 9.3 percent increase for the first half of the year. The median single family non-vacation home sold for $300,000, the median condominium sold for $286,250 and the median manufactured home sold for $130,000. 

This article was written by VHFA Spring Housing Fellow Christina Cramer

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston (FHLBB)'s Affordable Housing Program (AHP) will begin to accept applications on June 6, 2022. The program will award a minimum of $10.6 million in subsidy funding through member institutions to organizations promoting homeownership and rental housing opportunities for low income households. This funding will support critical housing resources during a time of extreme housing shortage, affordability crisis and rising development costs.

As many states including Vermont begin to award millions in financial assistance to homeowners impacted by the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued warnings of predatory fraud schemes targeting desperate homeowners looking to avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. 

A new program from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources has funding for low and moderate income Vermont homeowners to replace their home water or wastewater systems. Applications for the first round of funding are open through April 15, 2022.

The median Vermont non-vacation home sold for $270,000 in 2021, a 10.2% increase from the prior year, and a 19% overall increase from prices in 2019, before the pandemic. This is the largest home price increase seen since 2005. 

The median single family primary home sold for $280,000, the median condominium sold for $247,250 and the median mobile home with land sold for $115,000, according to Property Transfer Tax (PTT) records from the Vermont Department of Taxes*.