Connecticut first-time home buyer programs: help and limits

To use a Connecticut first time home buyer program, start with a lender, not with the state. Pick a lender that works with the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA), the state's housing finance agency. Ask it which CHFA mortgage and down payment help fit your income and town. Then take CHFA's free homebuyer class before closing: the day you sign the final papers and the home becomes yours.

What down payment help does CHFA offer?

CHFA's down payment help comes as loans that sit behind your main mortgage, the loan you take to buy the home. You can get them only together with a CHFA first mortgage.

Time to Own. The amount depends on your household's income compared with the area median income, the middle income in your region: half of households earn more, and half earn less. Under CHFA's loan outlines, you can get up to $25,000 at 80% of the median or less, and up to $18,750 above 80 and up to 100%. Above 100%, you can't get it.

You must have lived in Connecticut for the past three years, and you can't own other property when you close. The appraised value is what an appraiser says the home is worth. For appraisals dated October 5, 2026 or later, CHFA's Bulletin 299 says you can't use Time to Own when that value is 10% or more above the price. Any money the seller pays toward your costs is subtracted from the price first. CHFA may make an exception for a home whose deed restricts its sale to buyers under a set income.

Time to Own money can run out. To find out whether it is taking new loans, ask a CHFA lender or check the Time to Own page.

How does Time to Own forgiveness work?

Each year on the anniversary of your closing, CHFA forgives 10% of the loan, so you no longer owe that part. On the tenth anniversary, you owe nothing.

Say you get a $20,000 Time to Own loan. On each anniversary, $2,000 is forgiven. After the fourth anniversary, $8,000 has been forgiven and you still owe $12,000. Before you sign, ask your lender: "If I sell or refinance before the tenth anniversary, do I repay the part that hasn't been forgiven yet?"

What is the Down Payment Assistance loan?

The DAP loan is a second mortgage: a smaller loan, on top of your main mortgage, that you repay every month for 30 years. Its rate is your first mortgage's rate or 5.00%, whichever is lower.

The DAP loan is at least $3,000 and no more than your loan's minimum down payment, usually 3% to 3.5% of the price. It is also never more than 4% of the price or the appraised value, whichever is less. Ask your lender for your exact amount. You must show you can pay both loans each month.

Who qualifies for a CHFA loan?

For CHFA's main mortgages, including the ones backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), these rules apply:

• First-time buyer. No one buying can have owned a home in the past three years, unless you buy in a targeted area, explained next.
• Your main home. You must live in it. It can be a single-family home, a townhouse, an approved condo, or a two- to four-family home built more than five years ago (in a targeted area, a newer two-family home can qualify).
• Income and price. Your household's income must be under CHFA's income limit, the most a household can earn and still get the loan, and the price under its limit for your town.
• Credit. For its main loans, the minimum credit score is the one the loan type sets (FHA, VA, USDA or conventional); CHFA adds no higher score of its own. Next Move, a separate loan, needs a score of 620.

A targeted area is a part of the state where federal tax rules give buyers easier terms on CHFA's loans. It is a census tract, a small area the Census Bureau maps, where at least 70% of families earn 80% or less of the state's median family income. It can also be an area of long-term economic distress that the state names and the federal government approves. In a targeted area, you don't have to be a first-time buyer, the income and price limits are higher, and CHFA lowers its rate by 0.25%.

CHFA also takes 0.125% off its rate for these buyers:

• military members and veterans;
• state police officers, and municipal police officers buying in the town where they work;
• certified teachers who qualify;
• households with a member who has a disability;
• residents of public housing, apartments a housing office owns.

Discounts don't add up: you get the largest one you qualify for, including the targeted-area discount.

What are the income and price limits?

CHFA's limits for its main loans, which it calls Make It Yours, have been in effect since June 22, 2026. Next Move uses its own limit of 120% of the area median.

A few towns have their own rows, and the targeted areas of Bridgeport, Danbury, Norwalk and Stamford have a price limit of $800,000. Find your town on CHFA's sheet.

Time to Own adds its own income limits, dated June 13, 2026. At 100% of the area median, they run from $111,900 in Southeastern Connecticut to $156,800 in Greater Bridgeport and Western Connecticut.

Do you need a homebuyer class?

Yes. CHFA requires one of its free classes for anyone getting a CHFA loan. The pre-purchase class is a free workshop you can take before you make an offer. The pre-closing class comes after your lender has set aside, or reserved, your CHFA loan. At least one buyer must take the pre-closing class, unless someone took the pre-purchase class in the past 12 months. You can take the pre-closing class online for free with a code from your lender. If you're buying a two- to four-family home, you also take a landlord class.

A housing counselor approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) can help you get ready. Find one with HUD's counselor search.

How do you apply, step by step?

1. Pick a lender from CHFA's approved lender list and ask for a pre-approval, a letter that says how much you can borrow.
2. Ask which CHFA mortgage and which down payment help fit you, and whether Time to Own is taking new loans.
3. Check the income and price limits for your town, and whether the home is in a targeted area.
4. Save for closing costs. CHFA's first-time homebuyer guide says they can run 3% to 5% of the price.
5. Take the class before closing and keep the certificate.

Ask your town's community development office too: CHFA says some towns offer their own down payment loans or grants, and some employers do. Never pay anyone who contacts you about a "government grant": the Federal Trade Commission says the government doesn't call to offer grants or ask for a fee.

What should you do next?

Use our qualify check to see which open homes for sale fit your household's income. See open listings on our Connecticut page and across the country in our open listings. Our guide to first-time buyer grants explains how grants differ from loans like these, and our guide to FHA loan requirements covers the federal loan many CHFA buyers use.