Florida Homebuyer Programs & Assistance
Find the programs worth asking about, then the homes that fit them
BreakThru Realty helps Florida homebuyers find the homeownership programs worth asking about, understand how each one shapes the home search, connect with participating lenders, and find homes that fit. These pages cover the programs available to buyers in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties, with the figures their administrators publish and live listings within each county’s limits.
See which programs are worth asking about · Homes within the limits
Where a Program Changes the Home Search
A homebuyer program changes more than the money. Every Florida Housing program sets county limits, allows only certain kinds of property, and requires the home to be your primary residence. A VA-backed purchase of a condominium needs the VA to have approved the building. A take-home patrol car changes which communities work, and a 24-hour shift changes what a long commute costs you. A lender tells you what a program will finance; a brokerage that knows the programs keeps the search inside those rules, so an offer is not lost at the appraisal, at the condo review or at the association’s approval.
The Programs These Pages Cover
Five kinds of help come up again and again for South Florida buyers. Each has its own administrator, its own rules and its own paperwork, and some can be used together while others cannot. The pages below explain each one from the buyer’s side of the transaction and link to the source that runs it.
- Florida Hometown Heroes: down payment and closing cost assistance of up to 5% of the first mortgage amount, with a $10,000 minimum and a $35,000 maximum, for full-time workers in eligible occupations, servicemembers and veterans
- Florida Housing first mortgages with down payment assistance: 30-year fixed-rate loans through participating lenders, paired with Florida Assist, the Florida Homeownership Loan Program or HFA PLUS assistance
- VA home loans: the benefit veterans and servicemembers earned, with its own property rules and appraisal process
- SHIP: state housing money distributed to local governments, which run their own purchase assistance with their own rules and application windows
- Florida property tax exemptions for disabled veterans and for first responders disabled in the line of duty
How the County You Buy In Changes the Numbers
Program limits follow the county where the home is, not the county where you work. The 2026 Hometown Heroes household income limit runs from $153,450 in Indian River County to $204,300 in Miami-Dade: $192,750 in Palm Beach, $190,200 in Broward, and $153,600 in Martin and St. Lucie. The FHA loan limit Florida Housing publishes for the program is $667,000 in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach, $603,750 in Martin and St. Lucie, and $541,287 in Indian River. A nurse who works in Palm Beach and looks at homes in Martin County is shopping under Martin County’s figures, and that is worth knowing before the first showing.
Start With a Participating Lender
Florida Housing’s programs are delivered through approved lenders, and it is the lender who determines whether a buyer is eligible, processes the application and sets the loan, assistance and closing cost amounts. Consult a mortgage lender who participates in Florida Housing’s programs before you start touring homes; Florida Housing’s Lender and Real Estate Agent Locator lists them county by county. Bring the pre-approval to us and we build the search around the program it names, its limits and its property rules.
How BreakThru Realty Works With Program Buyers
The search starts from the program rather than from a price. We set up listings inside your county’s limits and the property types your program allows, and we flag the details that decide these purchases before you fall for a home: whether a condominium project is approved, whether the home’s condition is likely to pass a government-loan appraisal, what the association allows, and where the home sits in the flood maps. Offers are written with the program’s steps in mind, and from contract to closing we keep the lender, the title company and the association moving on the same timeline.
- A listing search built inside your program’s county limits and property types
- Condominium project approval checked before an offer, not after
- Association rules on parking, leasing and buyer approval read before you commit
- Flood zone and insurance questions raised during the inspection period
- One point of contact with your lender and title company through closing
Program Limits by County
| County | Hometown Heroes income limit | FHA loan limit | HFA Advantage and VA loan limit | SHIP purchase price limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broward County | $190,200 | $667,000 | $832,750 | $679,324 |
| Miami-Dade County | $204,300 | $667,000 | $832,750 | $679,324 |
| Palm Beach County | $192,750 | $667,000 | $832,750 | $679,324 |
| Martin County | $153,600 | $603,750 | $832,750 | $619,629 |
| St. Lucie County | $153,600 | $603,750 | $832,750 | $619,629 |
| Indian River County | $153,450 | $541,287 | $832,750 | $544,233 |
Homes for Sale Within the Program Limits
Broward County: at or below $667,000
Homes listed at or below the 2026 FHA loan limit Florida Housing publishes for Broward County, in property types its programs allow. A starting point, not a qualification: your pre-approval sets your own number.
$455,000
3121 NE 51ST Street 201E, Fort Lauderdale FL 33308
2 bd · 2 ba · 1,300 sq ft · Condominium
$600,000
137 NE 1st Court, Dania Beach FL 33004
0 ba · 1,674 sq ft · Duplex
$500,000
6930 Fillmore Street, Hollywood FL 33024
4 bd · 3 ba · 1,380 sq ft · Single Family Residence
$525,000
2600 E HALLANDALE BEACH Boulevard T3210, Hallandale Beach FL 33009
2 bd · 2 ba · 1,028 sq ft · Condominium
See every Broward County home at or below this line
Miami-Dade County: at or below $667,000
Homes listed at or below the 2026 FHA loan limit Florida Housing publishes for Miami-Dade County, in property types its programs allow. A starting point, not a qualification: your pre-approval sets your own number.
$560,000
11 NE 6th Street 2305, Miami FL 33132
1 bd · 1 ba · 551 sq ft · Condominium
$625,000
5657 NW 113th Avenue, Doral FL 33178
4 bd · 3.5 ba · 1,808 sq ft · Townhouse
$460,000
3001 NW 194TH Street, Miami Gardens FL 33056
3 bd · 2 ba · 1,019 sq ft · Villa
$535,000
12755 SW 132nd Terrace, Miami FL 33186
3 bd · 2.5 ba · 1,670 sq ft · Townhouse
See every Miami-Dade County home at or below this line
Palm Beach County: at or below $667,000
Homes listed at or below the 2026 FHA loan limit Florida Housing publishes for Palm Beach County, in property types its programs allow. A starting point, not a qualification: your pre-approval sets your own number.
$499,999
78 Landau Street, Boynton Beach FL 33426
3 bd · 2.5 ba · 2,209 sq ft · Townhouse
$549,000
2533 Timber Forest Drive, West Palm Beach FL 33415
5 bd · 3 ba · 2,526 sq ft · Single Family Residence
$425,000
127 Old Meadow Way, Palm Beach Gardens FL 33418
2 bd · 2 ba · 1,491 sq ft · Townhouse
$495,000
201 S Seas Drive 101, Jupiter FL 33477
2 bd · 2 ba · 1,332 sq ft · Condominium
See every Palm Beach County home at or below this line
Martin County: at or below $603,750
Homes listed at or below the 2026 FHA loan limit Florida Housing publishes for Martin County, in property types its programs allow. A starting point, not a qualification: your pre-approval sets your own number.
$450,000
5188 SE MILES GRANT Terrace, Stuart FL 34997
2 bd · 2 ba · 1,230 sq ft · Single Family Residence
$595,000
435 NW Emilia Way, Jensen Beach FL 34957
4 bd · 2 ba · 2,586 sq ft · Single Family Residence
$486,000
3674 NE Sandra Drive, Jensen Beach FL 34957
3 bd · 2 ba · 1,432 sq ft · Single Family Residence
$449,900
8723 SE RETREAT Drive, Hobe Sound FL 33455
2 bd · 2 ba · 1,526 sq ft · Villa
See every Martin County home at or below this line
St. Lucie County: at or below $603,750
Homes listed at or below the 2026 FHA loan limit Florida Housing publishes for St. Lucie County, in property types its programs allow. A starting point, not a qualification: your pre-approval sets your own number.
$399,400
726 SW AMBER Terrace, Port St. Lucie FL 34953
3 bd · 2 ba · 1,590 sq ft · Single Family Residence
$444,667
5453 NW Camberly Court, Port St. Lucie FL 34987
4 bd · 2 ba · 1,948 sq ft · Single Family Residence
$468,900
2301 SE Avalon Road, Port St. Lucie FL 34952
4 bd · 2 ba · 1,874 sq ft · Single Family Residence
$219,900
3428 Red Tailed Hawk Drive, Port St. Lucie FL 34952
0 bd · 0 ba · 1,694 sq ft · Manufactured Home
See every St. Lucie County home at or below this line
Indian River County: at or below $541,287
Homes listed at or below the 2026 FHA loan limit Florida Housing publishes for Indian River County, in property types its programs allow. A starting point, not a qualification: your pre-approval sets your own number.
$454,000
5005 E 1st Square, Vero Beach FL 32968
4 bd · 3 ba · 2,158 sq ft · Single Family Residence
$419,000
5585 40th Avenue, Vero Beach FL 32967
3 bd · 2 ba · 1,810 sq ft · Single Family Residence
$474,900
4450 Jimmy Buffett Mem Highway 102, Vero Beach FL 32963
2 bd · 2 ba · 1,080 sq ft · Condominium
$398,000
5002 Corsica Square, Vero Beach FL 32967
2 bd · 2 ba · 1,541 sq ft · Single Family Residence
See Which Programs Are Worth Asking About
Tell us what you do, the county you are looking in, your timing, whether you have owned a home in the last three years and your price range. We send back the programs worth raising with a participating lender and homes that fit them. Questions about credit, income and debts belong with your lender, so they are not on the form.
Prefer to talk? (786) 914-1017 · sales@breakthrurealty.com
Frequently Asked Questions
- What homebuyer assistance programs are available in Florida?
- The main statewide options are Florida Housing Finance Corporation’s first mortgages with down payment assistance (Florida Assist, the Florida Homeownership Loan Program and HFA PLUS), Florida Hometown Heroes for workers in eligible occupations, servicemembers and veterans, and VA home loans. Local governments add their own purchase assistance through the SHIP program. Consult a mortgage lender who participates in Florida Housing’s programs to learn which of them you are eligible for.
- Do I have to be a first-time buyer to get help buying a home in Florida?
- For Florida Housing’s programs, generally yes, but the definition is narrower than it sounds: a first-time homebuyer is someone who has not owned and occupied a primary residence in the previous 3 years. Florida Housing also states that veterans do not have to be first-time homebuyers for its government loan program. VA home loans have no first-time requirement at all.
- Can I use Florida down payment assistance on a condo?
- Florida Housing lists condominiums in approved projects among the property types its programs allow, and a VA-backed purchase of a condominium needs the VA to have approved the project or issued a waiver. Approval is checked building by building, so it belongs at the start of a condo search, before an offer, rather than after the contract is signed.
- How do I find a lender that offers Florida Housing programs?
- Florida Housing publishes a Lender and Real Estate Agent Locator on its website that lists approved loan officers by county. Its programs are available only through those participating lenders, and down payment assistance is available only together with a Florida Housing first mortgage, never on its own.
- Are homebuyer program limits the same in every Florida county?
- No. Florida Housing sets income and loan limits county by county. For 2026, the Hometown Heroes household income limit is $204,300 in Miami-Dade, $192,750 in Palm Beach, $190,200 in Broward, $153,600 in Martin and St. Lucie, and $153,450 in Indian River. The limits that apply are those of the county where the home is.
Sources
- Florida Housing Finance Corporation: Hometown Heroes Program
- Florida Housing: 2026 Hometown Heroes income and loan limits (revised July 13, 2026)
- Florida Housing Finance Corporation: Homebuyer Loan Programs
- Florida Housing: Lender and Real Estate Agent Locator
- Florida Housing: SHIP purchase price limits
- VA Loan Guaranty Service: Quick Reference for Real Estate Professionals
- Florida Department of Revenue: Property Tax Benefits for Active Duty Military and Veterans (PT-109)
Program figures checked against their published sources on September 23, 2026. Programs, limits and funding change; consult a mortgage lender who participates in Florida Housing’s programs for the current terms.