Michigan set a record last year: 6,193 buyers used MSHDA, the state housing authority, for more than $1 billion in mortgages and down payment help. The most in the agency’s 60-year history. Most renters have never heard of any of it.
Here’s what’s actually available in 2026, and what already ran out.
The statewide program: MI 10K DPA
MSHDA lends up to $10,000 toward your down payment and closing costs. Zero interest. No monthly payment. You pay it back when you sell, refinance, or pay off the house. It works in all 83 Michigan counties.
That last part needs saying because a lot of websites still describe the old version, which offered $7,500 in most places and $10,000 only in certain ZIP codes. That structure ended in May 2023. The full $10,000 has been statewide for three years.
To qualify, you pair it with MSHDA’s MI Home Loan and meet its rules: a credit score of 640 or better (660 for conventional), no home ownership in the past three years, less than $20,000 in liquid assets, a homebuyer education class, and income under your county’s limit. The limits are more generous than people assume, running roughly $98,000 to $151,000 depending on county and household size. And the first-time rule has two exceptions: it’s waived in targeted areas, and it’s waived for veterans everywhere.
One more 2026 change that opened doors: the maximum sales price jumped to $566,355 in June, after sitting frozen at $224,500 for years. The program now covers most of the Michigan market instead of a thin slice of it.
The local money stacks on top
- Detroit grants up to $25,000, forgiven after three years in the home. You need to have rented in the city for the past year and earn under 80% of area median income. It’s open now, first come, first served.
- Ingham County offers up to $30,000 as a forgivable loan, and East Lansing runs a similar program.
- The Federal Home Loan Bank’s HomeBoost program opened a fresh $5.3 million round in July 2026: up to $25,000 for first-generation buyers.
- Smaller programs run from $5,000 to $25,000 in Warren, Wayne County, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Oakland County, Kalamazoo, and elsewhere. Terms shift with each funding cycle, so treat any specific number you read, including ours, as “confirm before you count on it.”
The catch: the money runs out
This is the part that should change your timing. MSHDA’s $25,000 first-generation program burned through its entire budget in roughly six months. Closed, no waitlist. The Rate Relief program, $50 million to knock a point off your rate? Gone too. The FHLB’s spring assistance round was exhausted before summer.
These programs are budgets, not entitlements. The buyers who get them are the ones who were already qualified, documents ready, when the window opened. The buyers who “were going to look into it” fund nothing but the next press release about record demand.
What this means in practice
A first-time buyer in Detroit could, in the right circumstances, stack the city’s $25,000 grant on top of MSHDA’s $10,000 loan and walk into a $200,000 house with more assistance than the required down payment. A buyer anywhere in Michigan with a 640 score and moderate income has $10,000 waiting at zero interest.
Whether a given program is funded this month is the question no article can answer for you. Programs open, exhaust, and reopen on their own schedules. Ask us what’s currently open for your county and situation, or check MSHDA directly. Either way, do it before the next budget runs dry.
Sources: MSHDA MI 10K DPA · MSHDA MI Home Loan · State of Michigan, record 2025 announcement · Detroit DPA program · FHLBI HomeBoost · Ingham County DPA policy · Grand Rapids Homebuyer Assistance Fund · MSHDA First-Generation DPA (closed)