Florida Down Payment Assistance Tracker: Every County, What's Actually Funded

Down payment assistance available in every Florida county

🌟 THE NERD’S BIGGEST PICKS

The two headlines this week

DON’T MIND ME. 67 COUNTIES, ALREADY DID THE MATH.

🚨 FUNDING ALARM — LIKELY TO RUN OUT

• Key West ($100,000) — this funding round ends September 30.
• Hometown Heroes ($35,000) — last cycle, every dollar was committed in about six months.
• Sarasota County ($75,000) — first-qualified, first-served, and the window opened September 1.

Statewide programs (any Florida county)

Program	Max help	Status	Verified
Florida Hometown Heroes	$35,000	Open — $30M+ remaining	Sept 1
FL Assist	$10,000	Open	Aug 28
FL HLP	$12,500	Open	Aug 28

Suncoast & my home counties

Program	Max help	Status	Verified
Sarasota County SHIP 🏠	$75,000	Open	Sept 1
🏠 Rough 3-person buying power: income cap $82,200/yr (the program’s documented low-income tier) → max housing payment ≈ $2,740/mo → rough max purchase price ≈ $325,000. Illustration with stated assumptions (see note above the tables) — not an offer or approval.
Manatee County SHIP/CDBG	$15,000	Closed — county says it is not accepting applications; the $15,000 cap is not finalised (confirmed by phone)	Aug 31
Marion County Purchase Assistance	up to $100,000	Closed — not accepting applications; county will announce any change on its own channels (confirmed by phone)	Aug 31
City of Ocala DPA	$10,000	Confirming by phone	pending
Hernando County SHIP	up to $50,000	Open per county; confirming funds	Aug 29
Citrus County	none	No county DPA exists — state programs only	Aug 29
Charlotte County SHIP (incl. Punta Gorda) 🏠	$15,000	Open — via lender consortium	Aug 30
🏠 Rough 3-person buying power: income cap $69,500/yr (80% AMI — the county’s plan allows moderate-income buyers only on a limited basis, 2 per funding cycle) → max housing payment ≈ $2,317/mo → rough max purchase price ≈ $275,000. Illustration with stated assumptions (see note above the tables) — not an offer or approval.
Pinellas County DPA 🏠	up to $75,000	Open (reopened Dec 2025)	Sept 1
🏠 Rough 4-person buying power: income cap $91,750/yr, the county's own published limit for a 4-person household ($64,250 for one person) → max housing payment ≈ $3,058/mo → rough max purchase price ≈ $359,000, and the program's own $394,000 price cap applies on top. Illustration with stated assumptions (see note above the tables) — not an offer or approval.
City of St. Petersburg	up to $75,000	Split: open inside South St. Pete CRA to 140% AMI; limited outside	Aug 15
Hillsborough (HFA "Home Sweet Home")	$25,000	Open — confirming details	Aug 29
City of Tampa "Dare to Own the Dream"	$50,000	Confirming (conflicting reports)	Aug 29
Pasco County DPA 🏠	$65,000	Open — accepting applications	Aug 29
🏠 Rough 3-person buying power: income cap $82,600/yr (80% AMI — verified on the county’s program page; no moderate-income tier is funded) → max housing payment ≈ $2,753/mo → rough max purchase price ≈ $325,000. Illustration with stated assumptions (see note above the tables) — not an offer or approval.

Central Florida & Orlando metro

Southeast Florida

Program	Max help	Status	Verified
Miami-Dade PHCD DPA	$35,000	Listed — confirming funds	Aug 30
City of Miami FTHB	up to $70,000	Confirming by phone	pending
City of Hialeah SHIP 🏠	up to $150,000 combined	Open — accepting online	Aug 30
🏠 Rough 3-person buying power: income cap $147,120/yr (120% AMI — verified in the city’s housing plan; moderate-income awards cap at $50,000) → max housing payment ≈ $4,904/mo → rough max purchase price ≈ $580,000. Illustration with stated assumptions (see note above the tables) — not an offer or approval.
Miami Gardens 🏠	$20,000	Open — accepting pre-applications	Aug 30
🏠 Rough 3-person buying power: income cap $122,520/yr (the city’s own published limit — verified Aug 31) → max housing payment ≈ $4,084/mo → rough max purchase price ≈ $480,000. Illustration with stated assumptions (see note above the tables) — not an offer or approval.
Broward County HPA	$80,000 ($120,000 high-cost areas)	Open by area — county publishes fund balances; confirming latest	Aug 30
Fort Lauderdale FTHB	up to $75,000	Confirming by phone	pending
Pembroke Pines	up to $75,000	Open per city page — confirming caps	Aug 30
Hollywood FTHB	up to $50,000	Call-for-funding per the city itself	Aug 30
Miramar (two programs)	$50,000 / $30,000	Confirming by phone	pending
Coral Springs	up to $80,000	Confirming by phone	pending
Pompano Beach FTHB	$80,000	Closed since June 8 (many websites still say open — they're wrong)	Aug 30
Palm Beach County SHIP	up to $100,000	Listed — confirming current cycle	Aug 29
West Palm Beach FTHB	up to $100,000	Confirming by phone	pending
Boca Raton SHIP 🏠	need-based	Open — "funding very limited," waitlist possible	Aug 29
🏠 Rough 3-person buying power: income cap $161,980/yr (140% AMI — verified in the city’s funding notice; very-low/low-income buyers get priority) → max housing payment ≈ $5,399/mo → rough max purchase price ≈ $635,000. Illustration with stated assumptions (see note above the tables) — not an offer or approval.
Boynton Beach SHIP	~$100,000	Listed — confirming allocation	Aug 29
Delray Beach FTHB	up to $75,000	Likely closed (March window lapsed) — confirming	Aug 29
Monroe County SHIP	up to $65,000	Listed — confirming funds	Aug 30
City of Key West	$20,000	Open — but the round ends Sept 30 or when funds run out	Aug 30

Treasure Coast & Southwest

Northeast & North Central

Panhandle

Watch out for these (things other websites get wrong right now)

• Pompano Beach: closed since June 8, still listed as open almost everywhere.
• Cape Coral's "$75,000": the city's own page says individuals are not eligible applicants for those funds.
• Okaloosa's "$65,000": the program is closed; the cap is real, the money isn't currently.
• City of Orlando: multiple reports of a pause since April that most sites don't mention.
• Fort Myers: suspended since July 2024; the page is still up.
• Printed tiers aren't funded tiers: several counties print income tiers to 140% AMI but only fund 80% and below. The table above reflects what actually pays where we could verify it.

How to actually get this money

Almost every program above requires a lender pre-approval before or alongside your application, most are first-come first-served, and several require the lender to be certified with the county. That's the whole game: when a window opens, the buyers who win are the ones whose pre-approval already exists. I work with these programs across Florida, I'm certified where certification is required in my home counties, and where a status above says "confirming," I can usually get you the live answer in one phone call.

If you're buying in the next year, anywhere in Florida: get pre-approved now, so you're first in line instead of starting paperwork when the window opens. Call or text me at (941) 269-8365, or reach out here.

How this page works & the fine print

Last verified: September 1, 2026. This page covers all 67 Florida counties and the major city programs, and it gets re-checked continuously; every status shows the date it was confirmed. Why it exists: down payment assistance is basically a race. Programs open, money runs out, and most of what Google shows you was written months ago about funding that no longer exists. I checked over 80 programs against their own official sources to build this, and I keep it current because I use these programs for real buyers every week.

How to read the tables: "Open" means the administrator's own page or notice says applications are being accepted as of the date shown. "Confirming" means the published information is stale, contradictory, or the government site blocks verification, and we're confirming by phone; call me and I'll get you the live answer. Award amounts are program maximums, not promises, and most programs fund lower income tiers first.

🏠 Buying-power rows: hover (or tap) a row marked 🏠 for a rough estimate of the maximum purchase price for a 3-person household at that program’s income limit. Assumptions: 2026 SHIP income limits (eff. 5/1/26), 40% front-end housing ratio (achievable with automated-underwriting approval), 6.5% 30-year fixed, about 28% of the payment reserved for taxes, insurance, and mortgage insurance, 3.5% down. Every figure is an illustration with stated assumptions — not a rate quote, an offer, or an approval; your real number comes from a pre-approval.