State of New York Mortgage Agency - Homes

Let’s face it: Affording rent in New York is often an uphill battle, let alone making the leap to buy your first home.

That’s why SONYMA offers our Achieving the Dream mortgage loan program for lower income New Yorkers to make homeownership a reality.

Swipe through this post for an overview of the program, and visit our website for more information on income limits, purchase price limits, and how to apply.

The month of May is Affordable Housing Month! Our mission during all 12 months of the year is delivering programs to New Yorkers that allow as many families as possible to achieve affordable, quality housing. We're excited to spend this month celebrating our partners who help further our mission and promoting programs that help New York families make the most of their budgets for their forever homes.

Families who buy homes with SONYMA love our Down Payment Assistance Loan (DPAL) program! It provides crucial assistance to help ease the burden when you're facing one of the biggest hurdles of homeownership: Closing costs.

With the heightened cost of living in mind, SONYMA is also introducing the Repayable Second Lien program so our team can extend even more assistance to first-time homebuyers!

To learn more about both of our down payment assistance programs, visit our website (linked in bio).

Ever wonder where New Yorkers can use mortgage programs like SONYMA? The answer is everywhere within the state!

Here are the five counties that used the most SONYMA mortgage loans in 2025, with many more spread across the state.

The SONYMA Team was delighted to join the New York State Association for Affordable Housing's first-ever panel at the Somos New York Conference in Albany last weekend!

Darrelle Forde, our Single Family Senior Vice President, had a fantastic experience on the panel covering housing challenges and barriers Latino families across the state are facing, and the federal and state resources like SONYMA working to address disparities and help families thrive in their communities. Other panelists included Kieran Harrington (RiseBoro Community Partnership), Lorrie Pizzola (NYSAFAH), Giamara Rosado (Acacia Network), and Carlos Vargas-Ramos (Hunter College Center for Puerto Rican Studies).

The panel, sponsored by State Assemblymember Jonathan D. Rivera and State Senator Julia Salazar, was a riveting discussion to be a part of, and the type of event that the SONYMA Team always cherishes being a part of.

Want to hear directly from members of the SONYMA team? Join our monthly informational webinar!

Members of the SONYMA team share information on SONYMA's programs, who is eligible, and how to apply on the last Thursday of every month. Join us for this month's webinar on April 23rd, 6-7 p.m. Register at the link in our story or on our website under the "events" section.

Know Your Rights. 📋

The Fair Housing Act protects you from discrimination when:
🔹 Renting or buying a home
🔹 Applying for a mortgage
🔹 Seeking housing assistance
🔹 Participating in other housing-related activities

In New York State, the Human Rights Law provides even broader protections — including sexual orientation, gender identity, and military status.

Learn more about your rights: hcr.ny.gov

We know the mortgage process can often be confusing, and adding on an additional program like SONYMA might seem like it'll make it harder. But in reality, SONYMA programs are designed to make the homebuying process as similar to conventional programs as possible.

Follow us to find answers to frequently asked questions about our application process, qualifications, timeline and more!

Home prices have been rising over the past few years, and that means down payments and closing costs are much higher hurdles to get over.

That’s why we’re offering a larger deferred payment assistance loan to help cover down payment and closing costs of up to 5% of the purchase price of your home with any SONYMA mortgage loan. So you can expand your housing search with more peace of mind when it comes to affordability.

Let’s dispel the myth that only rich New Yorkers can buy homes for their families.

With our Low Interest Rate Program, we offer mortgage loans at competitive rates for moderate income households so we can support even more New Yorkers buying their first homes.

Swipe through this post for an overview of the program, and visit our website for more information on income limits, purchase price limits, and how to apply.

We know the mortgage process can often be confusing, and adding on an additional program like SONYMA might seem like it'll make it harder. But in reality, SONYMA programs are designed to make the homebuying process easier in the long run!

Follow us to find answers to frequently asked questions about our application process, qualifications, timeline and more!