WASHINGTON - This National Homeownership Month, the Biden-Harris Administration and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are highlighting multiple community events and engagements around the country organized by HUD and partners. Collectively, these events will help homebuyers across the country by highlighting available HUD resources and support services.

“We are devoted to helping people purchase homes because we know homeownership is a key to building wealth,” said HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “During the Biden-Harris Administration, HUD has helped millions of people become first-time homebuyers, but we know more must be done to help people overcome historical and financial barriers. This National Homeownership Month, we are doubling down on our work to advance homeownership opportunities.”

Through the events, HUD joins President Joe Biden in commemorating this June as the 22nd annual National Homeownership Month and in working to ensure everyone has access to an affordable home in a community of their choice. National Homeownership Month also serves as a focal point for reinforcing, through multiple communications channels and direct outreach, the important role that housing counseling and HUD-certified housing counselors serve in reaching, educating, and assisting future and current homeowners.

The events are being held coast to coast across rural and urban communities, from Bangor to Honolulu. Events are in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia, and more.

These events highlight initiatives to increase the supply of affordable homes, enable access to mortgage credit for first-time homebuyers, especially those from historically marginalized communities, and help current homeowners avoid foreclosure. This includes educational programs highlighting HUD resources, housing fairs and expos, trainings, roundtables, congressional briefings, and more. For example, HUD officials participated in several homeownership events in Ohio and California earlier this month and plan to participate in a Homebuyer Education Workshop and Expo hosted by the Atlanta Urban League in Georgia on June 29.

HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is the largest mortgage insurer in the world, serving a higher percentage of first-time home buyers, low- and moderate-income households, and people of color than any other mortgage channel. Over seven million American households live in a home financed by an FHA-insured mortgage. Through FHA, more than 730,000 households – including more than 223,000 borrowers of color – realized the dream of homeownership in fiscal year 2023 alone.

In the first term of the Biden-Harris Administration, HUD has supported more than 2.9 million first-time homebuyers and FHA’s first-time homebuyer rate under this Administration is the highest it has been in over 20 years. HUD’s work to boost homeownership includes:

• Ensuring that positive rental history plays a greater role in determining creditworthiness when applying for an FHA-insured mortgage;
• Expanding the tools for Americans to access housing counseling;
• Removing barriers for people with student loan debt seeking to buy a home using a FHA-insured mortgage; and
• Cutting costs by reducing FHA mortgage insurance premiums, saving more than 680,000 people across this country save almost $900 in the first year of their mortgage. That is over $600 million in savings, just in the first year alone.