Nearly 1,000 Oregon households used a state-sponsored lending program to help buy a home in 2025.
The Flex Lending program, which Oregon Housing and Community Services began developing in 2018, allows low- to moderate-income borrowers to buy homes in the Beaver State with minimal cash upfront and lower interest rates.
Last year, 33 state-approved lenders provided almost $300 million to help Oregonians buy homes using the program. About one-third of those homebuyers, or 31%, identified as people of color, while 32% were veteran households and 43% of borrowers lived in rural areas, according to the agency.
The program offers two products. FirstHome, the program’s loan product for first-time homebuyers and some veterans, has a maximum household income limit based on the area median family income per county. The other program, NextStep, is for anyone who earns $125,000 or less and doesn’t currently own a home.
Both products can be combined with the state’s down payment assistance program. The down payment assistance is provided as a second mortgage, separate from the primary home loan, and offers 4% or 5% of the total loan amount in the form of a low-interest loan that can be used toward a down payment.
“Oregonians in all zip codes know firsthand how expensive it is to afford a home,” Oregon Housing and Community Services Executive Director Andrea Bell said in a statement. “It affects families, workers and local economies. Addressing housing affordability requires removing barriers in ways that concretely translate into more housing opportunities, stronger communities and real paths to homeownership.”
The Flex Lending program is funded through bond sales, meaning the state raises money by selling bonds to investors. Oregon’s down payment assistance program is funded by the state’s General Fund. State lawmakers determine how much is allocated from the General Fund to the down payment assistance program each budget cycle.
Oregon lawmakers in 2025 set a goal to increase homeownership rates in the state to 65% by 2030. The latest available data shows 63.3% of Oregonians own their homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Homebuyers interested in Flex Lending products must work with an approved lender and take a homebuyer education class before purchasing.
Originally published on oregoncapitalchronicle.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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