First-Time Home Buyer Programs in Virginia: The 2026 Guide

Virginia has more help for first-time buyers than most people realize, and the money is not a loan you have to pay back in every case. The two biggest sources are Virginia Housing, the state housing finance agency, and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Virginia Housing offers a down payment assistance grant of 2% of the purchase price on its conventional bond loans and 2.5% on FHA and other government bond loans, and that grant is never repaid. It also offers a closing cost assistance grant of up to 2% of the purchase price, capped around $2,500. Both require you to use a Virginia Housing first mortgage and to meet income and sales price limits. After 24 years of helping first-time buyers in Hampton Roads, I can tell you the paperwork is manageable. The mistake is waiting until you have found a house to start it.

The 2026 Limits That Actually Decide Your Eligibility

For most of Virginia, including Hampton Roads, the Virginia Housing down payment and closing cost assistance income limit runs from $90,000 to $103,000 depending on household size, with a sales price limit of $500,000. Those figures took effect August 1, 2026. The higher Northern Virginia limits do not apply here. If your household income is above the cap, you can still buy, you just do it without the grant.

Virginia Housing also offers a Plus Second Mortgage, which is a repayable second loan of roughly 3% to 5% of the purchase price, and a Mortgage Credit Certificate that lets you claim a federal tax credit of up to about $2,000 a year on the interest you pay. Those two are worth asking a lender about if the grant alone does not cover your gap.

DHCD Down Payment Assistance: Bigger Money, Tighter Income Caps

The state DHCD homeownership program goes further, up to 10% of the sales price, or 15% in approved areas, as a 0% deferred loan that is forgiven over 5 to 15 years. It is limited to buyers at or below 80% of area median income. For Hampton Roads in 2026, that 80% line is $60,350 for one person, $68,950 for two, $77,550 for three, and $86,150 for four. It is delivered through local providers rather than directly by the state, so the application path is different from Virginia Housing.

Local Programs Worth Knowing

• Norfolk: the Housing Authority runs Homeward Norfolk, offering up to $40,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance as a deferred loan for buyers between 80% and 120% of area median income in the Ingleside, Monticello Village, and Oakdale Farms neighborhoods. Its HOME program offers up to $40,000 to $60,000 for buyers at or below 80% of area median income citywide. If you are looking at Norfolk neighborhoods, ask about both.
• Virginia Beach: there is no city-run down payment program. Buyers here lean on Virginia Housing and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta grants, including its first-time homebuyer and workforce housing products.
• Statewide: the Virginia Housing grant pairs with VA, FHA, USDA, and conventional bond loans, so military buyers using a VA loan Hampton Roads families rely on can stack the closing cost grant on top.

What You Still Have to Qualify For

Assistance does not replace underwriting. Expect a credit score in the 620 to 640 range for most of these programs, a debt to income ratio that lenders will usually cap between 45% and 50%, and a homebuyer education course before closing. The course is a few hours online and it is not a hurdle, it is genuinely useful the first time around.

One caution: these numbers change. Income limits reset annually, grant percentages move with bond programs, and local programs open and close as funding runs out. Confirm the current terms with a Virginia Housing approved lender before you build a budget around them. My first-time buyer hub covers the rest of the process step by step, and my free guides library has the checklists.

How This Plays Out in the Virginia Beach Market

Down payment assistance changes your search, not the market. With a $500,000 sales price cap on the Virginia Housing grant, you are shopping the middle of the Virginia Beach real estate market, which in practice means condos near Town Center, townhomes in Kempsville, and resale homes in the south end. That is a good place to be. It is also competitive, so get the grant approved and the pre-approval letter in hand before you tour. Sellers take a clean, fully underwritten offer more seriously than a promise.