Taking a Cool Look Back at 2024

From where we sit, 2024 was a banner year for down payment assistance (DPA). It’s when DPA became “cool” for homeowners to ask about and lenders to offer, with more programs from more agencies helping more individuals and families become homeowners. 

Down Payment Resource has been in the thick of this evolution, pushing the envelope with product innovations and strategic partnerships. We’re not just tooting our own horn. The National Council of State Housing Agencies notes that from 2021 to 2023 housing finance agencies increased their total volume of DPA by 43% (to $1.5 billion) and their average amount of assistance by 48% (to $12,000). Add to that, the recent FHA Annual Report to Congress notes 16.9% of FHA purchases in FY 2024 used DPA, up from 15% last year. 

A Banner Year for Accolades

2024 kicked off with Founder and CEO Rob Chrane named a 2024 Real Estate Newsmaker; Executive Vice President of Product and Operations Sean Moss named an Industry Titan; and Vice President, Housing Finance Agency (HFA) Relations, Veronica Khandelwal, named a 2024 Women of Inspiration.

We made news in other ways, too. Our Q3 2024 Homeownership Program Index (HPI) report found the number of national homebuyer assistance programs increased by 29 to 2,444 — now officially the largest collection ever, anywhere. 

Also, we awarded Sylvia Alvarez, founder and executive director of Housing and Education Alliance (HEA), with our Beverly Faull Affordable Housing Leadership Award, created in memory of one of our first employees.

Social Climbing

Down Payment Resource has always given back, and 2024 was no different. 

In January, Chrane spoke at the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) on a panel moderated by Wendi Redfern, senior vice president, single-family programs at the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency. In his remarks, Chrane discussed a study conducted in partnership with the Urban Institute that found that almost half (43.6%) of originated purchase mortgages were eligible for DPA but did not use it.

In January, we also sent our team to New Orleans for MBA’s IMB Conference to network with clients and prospects. In February, team members traveled to Houston for TMBA’s Southern Secondary conference where DPA was a frequent topic of discussion.

The mid-March ICE Experience 2024 was perfectly timed for DPR to debut its new integration with Encompass by ICE Mortgage Technology, the most used mortgage loan origination system (LOS). We all traveled to Las Vegas to take part in this annual user conference and our booth was buzzing with lenders eager for a peek. The integration allows users of the Encompass LOS to view available DPA programs for specific borrowers based on their location, occupation, income and other factors. As additional information is entered into Encompass about the borrower, the DPA information dynamically refreshes. 

In another first, we joined The Mortgage Collaborative (TMC), the nation’s largest independent cooperative network serving the mortgage industry, as a preferred partner and attended TMC’s The Mane Event in Denver. 

New Faces

Growth in program numbers and customers throughout the year meant expanding our executive team. 

We hired 20-year mortgage industry veteran Brad Cardwell as our vice president of sales and business development to lead enterprise sales, growing both its sales team and partner network, with the goal of making more housing professionals and consumers aware of the availability and benefits of DPA for a range of homebuying expenses and property types. 

You may know Brad from his 19-year tenure at Embrace Home Loans, where he most recently was vice president of innovation for revenue and sales enablement. He also previously served on the executive advisory board of nCino (formerly SimpleNexus, an nCino Company), providing feedback for the product and roadmap.

And Celebrations

Down Payment Resource doesn’t just collect programs like a museum curator. We update program information every month. This attention to detail means the 2,400+ programs in our database are accurate.

We also sift through program data to bring attention to specific causes. In recognition of Disability Pride Month we highlighted 18 U.S. DPA programs specifically designed to support people with disabilities and their family caregivers on their journey toward homeownership. In October, we highlighted 48 U.S. homebuyer assistance programs designed to support Native Americans. In November, we highlighted 49 programs to support Veterans, service members and their surviving spouses. 

Join Us for a Prosperous New Year

While we’ve come a long way in making homebuyers and real estate professionals more aware of DPA, there’s still work ahead. As we previously noted, 16.9% of FHA purchases in FY 2024 used DPA, but HUD data shows us that 79.8% of FHA loan applicants likely could have qualified with DPA. That gap between the number of eligible loans (79.8%) and those that used DPA (16.9%) is about 63%, and represents a significant portion of LMI and minority applicants who may have qualified for an FHA loan with additional funds. (On average, DPA lowers a homebuyer’s LTV by 6%.)

In 2025, we hope to work with our partners to narrow that gap, not only for FHA loans but across the board. We think every borrower has the right to know about DPA that could be used to boost their down payment, pay closing costs or pay down points. 

We think that’s all pretty cool.

If you need more information about how to operationalize DPA in your business, contact us for a demonstration.