The pandemic brought on a surge in homebuying due to low mortgage rates and people’s desire to leave cities for more space, fewer crowds and sense of community, per Bank of America Homebuyer Insights. While homeownership has historically helped families create a legacy and build long-term wealth, it has been found that saving for down payment and closing costs are key challenges for prospective homeowners – especially for those buying homes for the first time. Because of this, many self-select out of investigating homeownership simply because they don’t think they can afford it.  

To assist with the upfront costs of purchasing a home, today, Bank of America announced it will triple its affordable homeownership initiative from $5 to $15 billion through 2025. The Bank of America Community Homeownership Commitment is helping low- to moderate-income homebuyers across the country begin to build their personal wealth and family legacy through the power of homeownership. Already, more than 21,000 individuals and families have taken advantage of the grant programs to purchase a home (totaling over $180 million in grants). Through today’s expansion to $15 billion, Bank of America hopes to triple the number of people it originally set out to help purchase a home, from 20,000 to now 60,000 or more.

Bank of America offers two grant programs to help prospective buyers with the upfront costs of homeownership. Since 2019, homebuyers have received an average  of $14,000 through these programs.  

Down Payment Grant program – helps customers overcome the biggest barrier to homeownership – down payment. In more than 260 cities and counties across the country, eligible buyers can receive 3% of the home’s purchase price up to $10,000, whichever is less, to be used toward their down payment. No repayment is required. 

America’s Home Grant program – offers a lender credit of up to $7,500 that can be used towards non-recurring closing costs, like title insurance and recording fees, or to permanently buy down the interest rate. The funds, which do not require repayment, are available in nearly 800 cities and counties nationwide and can be combined with Down Payment Grant funds to lower the cost of homeownership.