Utah Down Payment Assistance Programs Guide

Utah's main help comes from Utah Housing Corporation: a second loan of up to 6% of your first-mortgage amount for down payment and closing costs, plus the separate $20,000 First-time Homebuyers Assistance Program for newly built homes. Local programs. Own in Ogden, Salt Lake City's community-development lending, stack the menu further. We match programs to your county, income, and credit.

Mostly a loan. Utah Housing's standard assistance is a 30-year, fully amortizing second mortgage with its own monthly payment, at a rate Utah Housing sets above your first mortgage. It is not a grant and not forgivable. The one true grant is the $2,500 Veteran Grant, which is never repaid, but that grant is currently closed for FY2026 once funds were exhausted; confirm current availability with the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs before counting on it.

Utah's First-time Homebuyers Assistance Program (created by SB 240 in 2023) lends first-time buyers up to $20,000 at 0% interest with no monthly payment, for newly constructed, never-lived-in homes priced at $450,000 or less, financed with a Utah Housing mortgage. It requires 12 months of Utah residency before closing. Funding revolves as earlier recipients repay; the program had assisted 2,934+ Utah buyers through early 2026 and continued taking reservations, so confirm the current tally before you offer. Repayment is capped by statute: at sale or refinance you repay the lesser of the assistance you received or 50% of your home-equity amount. For a sale, equity is the sale price minus your mortgage payoff (less up to 1% seller-paid closing costs); for a refinance, it's the appraised value minus the payoff. If you refinance into another Utah Housing qualifying mortgage, the program loan can resubordinate with no payment due at that time. It can't be combined with the Veteran or Law Enforcement grants.

No, it applies only to newly constructed homes that have never been inhabited, priced at $450,000 or below. For existing homes, we pair a Utah Housing loan with its up-to-6% down payment assistance second instead.

660 minimum for the FirstHome loan (first-time buyers, FHA/VA), 620 for the Score loan, and 700 for the conventional NoMI loan, which is Utah Housing's no-mortgage-insurance option built on Freddie Mac's HFA Advantage. The Score loan exists specifically for buyers in the 620-659 range.

Yes. The Utah Homebuyer Veteran Grant gives eligible first-time buyers who are serving, or separated within the past five years, $2,500 that never has to be repaid. It is currently closed for FY2026 once funds were exhausted; confirm current availability with the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs before counting on it. Eligibility is validated through that department before closing.

Set by county and household size, in Salt Lake County for 2026, FirstHome limits run roughly $126,100 for 1-2 person households and $145,000 for 3+, with a purchase-price ceiling near $666,600. Summit and Wasatch counties run higher, and Utah Housing's FHA/VA and Freddie Mac HFA Advantage paths use one $165,200 statewide income cap with no price limit. Limits move during the year, confirm your county's current figure on Utah Housing's limits matrix.

Yes. Own in Ogden lends $10,000 to first-time buyers ($15,000 for K-12 teachers, $20,000 for firefighters) at 0% with no monthly payment inside city limits, and Salt Lake City funds homeownership help through the Community Development Corporation of Utah, backed by $6.4 million the city approved in May 2026.

No, unlike Colorado and some other states, Utah offers no state tax deduction for a first-time homebuyer savings account; nothing on Utah's TC-40A income-tax schedule covers one. Utah's help comes through Utah Housing loans, the $20,000 new-construction program, and its low flat 4.45% income tax.