$82 Million Investment to Make Homeownership Within Reach for More New Yorkers

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HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program Enhancement Expands Income Eligibility to Engage More New Yorkers, Partners with New Provider to Expedite Services

The expansion of the HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program, which provides qualified first-time homebuyers with up to $100,000 toward the down payment or closing costs on a one-to-four family home, a condominium, or a co-op in one of the five boroughs. The expansions adds  $82 million over five years in new City funding, broadens income eligibility, and adds new nonprofit partner to expedite programmatic support. To learn more about HomeFirst, New Yorkers can visit nyc.gov/homefirst.  

HomeFirst has been a proven success in bringing the dream of homeownership closer to reality for New Yorkers. Over the past decade, HomeFirst has helped more than 1,100 New Yorkers on their path towards homeownership. The new HomeFirst expansion will include  doubling the program’s City funding to reach more New Yorkers than would be possible with the program’s existing Federal funding alone. The program will now accept applications from individuals and families earning up to 120 percent of the area median income (AMI), expanding eligibility beyond the prior limit of 80 percent of AMI. HPD will continue to partner with Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City (NHS) to qualify interested homeowners and will also now partner with the Center for New York City Neighborhoods to expand capacity and serve more first-time homebuyers.