Hometown Heroes is Expected to Help More Homebuyers

Home prices remain high as more people want to call the Tampa Bay region home. Inventory is tight and interest rates still feel pretty high.

It’s creating a lot of frustration for people trying to buy a home.

“What we’re seeing now is anything that’s priced right and in good condition has two or three, four offers, and 25% of the inventory is being gobbled up in the first 14 days of going on the market.” Joseph Kipping with the Tampa Bay Home Team said.

Homes are going fast and they are selling high because buyers don’t have a lot of options right now.

“It is not at an all-time low but inventory is definitely down from what it was,” Kipping said.

Low inventory and high-interest rates may sound like a disaster, but Kipping said he’s seeing new construction start to pop up online.

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Meanwhile, Al Frederick with First Centennial Mortgage said that correlates with interest rates.

“I do think we will see more inventory eventually, and when I do think that’ll be is when rates do come down and I do think rates are going to come down,” Frederick said.

He said he’s already starting to see rates dip, but Frederick explained it’s a slow process.

“You gain weight real quick but it doesn’t come off as quick. Well, rates are kind of the same way. Rates just take time to come down.”

So how you can get your hands on a home? There’s a down payment assistance program called Hometown Heroes. For a while, it was only available to frontline heroes. Now, the Live Local Act put another $100 million into the program and extended it to all working Floridians.

“You’re going to see an influx of people wanting to purchase homes because now that barrier of entry has been removed, and they can use that to purchase a home,” Kipping said.

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The Florida Housing Authority said right now, borrowers can receive a maximum amount of $25,000 in down payment assistance. Once the change goes into effect, the maximum amount will be $35,000.

“Right now, I think one of the most aggressive programs that’s out there, I would bet is that Hometown Hero,” Frederick said.

The change goes into effect on July 1 and it’s open until the program runs out of money.

“I think they’re going to go through the money very fast because, let’s face it, if you’re on the sidelines because you don’t have a down payment and now the Florida Housing Authority is going to help you get your down payment they’re probably going to go through that money pretty fast,” Kipping said.

This article was originally published by Keely McCormick in www.abcactionnews.com