Palm Beach County Offers $50,000 Down Payment Assistance to First-Time Buyers—Here’s Who Qualifies

Palm Beach County isn't struggling when it comes to luxury real estate sales. The Florida hot spot is outperforming much of the country when it comes to the high-end market and its trophy homes—some commanding prices above $200 million.

"The pandemic plus 'The Trump effect' has driven up prices over the last few years in Palm Beach County as the ultrarich have flocked there, seeking not only a tax shelter but access to the president at Mar-a-Lago, which has become 'The Florida White House,'" Florida real estate agent Cara Ameer tells Realtor.com®.

Yet many of the county’s working-class families are everyday residents who struggle to afford the median single-family home listing price of $499,000—that's $132,025 more that the median listing price was just five years ago.

To help, Palm Beach County is introducing a homebuyer assistance program that will match up to $50,000 in down payment assistance.

"This can be used toward the purchase price, down payment, closing costs, or points buydown," Carlos Serrano, deputy director of the Palm Beach County Housing and Economic Development department, tells Realtor.com.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Marci Woodward, who initially proposed the program, says she's hopeful it will help the Palm Beach County workforce achieve the American dream. "High rents have made it almost impossible for many people to save a down payment, and this gives them a path into homeownership," she says.

To stay within the commonly recommended 30% affordability rule of thumb, purchasing a home at the median list price of $499,000 would require a household income of at least $110,000, about $30,000 more than the county’s median household income, says Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com.

"As a result, a typical Palm Beach County household would likely need to stretch beyond affordability guidelines to buy a median-priced home," says Jones. "Although incomes have risen, they have not kept pace with rapidly increasing home prices, which have grown faster than wages in the area."

Serrano notes that "for a lot of our workforce—just regular working folk who are nurses, firefighters, and teachers—that's tough, and there's not a whole lot of inventory at more affordable prices."

Details of the assistance program

The Homebuyer Match Pilot Program will launch in March, distributing $5 million with the aim of supporting 200 families in purchasing homes.

"The goal of the program is to help people get into housing who might not otherwise be able to afford it, and to leverage their dollars to help close the home affordability gap," says Serrano.

To qualify for the program, which is not taxpayer-funded, applicants must have a pre-qualification letter from a mortgage lender; live or work in Palm Beach County; not have owned a home in the last two years; and meet income requirements.

Selections will be made through a lottery system.

Upon qualification, the funds will be structured as a forgivable loan, contingent upon the buyer maintaining the property as their primary residence for 15 years. In the event of resale prior to the forgiveness period, the county may be reimbursed from the sales proceeds or the lien may be transferred to a subsequent homestead property.

Response to the program

"The new Palm Beach County program, which matches down payment funds, can shorten the time it takes to save and reduce the cash needed to enter the market, making homeownership more attainable for mid- to lower-income buyers who might otherwise be priced out," says Jones.

However, Woodward says some residents initially had questions about where the money for the Homebuyer Match Pilot Program was coming from. "They were happy to hear that the money is not being taken away from roads or schools, and that it's not taxpayer-funded," she explains. "The funds come from developers."

Salim Chraibi, CEO of Florida-based Bluenest Development, is a fan of the program. "Down payment assistance is one of the best resources that I have seen for working families who can afford a monthly mortgage but cannot save tens of thousands of dollars upfront," he tells Realtor.com.

"In South Florida, even buyers who qualify for a mortgage struggle when it comes to saving enough money for cash to close, which is why down payment assistance is so significant. Without support programs, we see families forced to continue renting, double up with relatives, or look outside the county entirely."

Odessa Walker, Community Partners of South Florida's housing program manager, tells Realtor.com that "this program will be beneficial to buyers in Palm Beach County. The average potential buyer struggles saving the minimum 3.5% down payment with the current cost of living in our area. I personally have been looking for a home since July 2023 and am outpriced in this current market."

However, Jeff Lichtenstein, CEO of Echo Fine Properties, argues that the pilot program does little to address the underlying problem. "This program will help 200 lucky people, but it’s not a solution long term, and there really isn’t one," he says. "The problem is supply, and not much of that can be addressed with loans."

Palm Beach real estate agent Hilary Musser, the star of Netflix's "Members Only: Palm Beach" tells Realtor.com, "I’m very happy to see $5 million being invested to help 200 families. I do believe this will stimulate activity on the lower end of the housing market. While most of my listings are in the ultra-luxury space, I’m certain this initiative will make a meaningful difference for those families. That said, what would truly make an impact for homeowners across all price points would be a reduction in real estate taxes.”