Delaware Home Loans 2026 — Complete Guide
Delaware offers up to 5% in newly rebranded DSHA down payment assistance, plus what its first property tax reassessment in decades means for buyers.
The number people miss: Delaware's counties went 40 to 50 years without reassessing property — Sussex County's last reassessment before 2024 was in 1974 — and a court forced them to catch up all at once. New Castle County saw average assessed values jump 433% almost overnight, and lawmakers are still passing relief bills into 2026 to soften the impact. If you're buying in Delaware, don't assume last year's tax bill on a listing reflects what you'll actually owe.
Delaware Down Payment Assistance — DSHA Programs
The Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) completed a major rebrand of its offerings in April 2026, retiring the long-running "Kiss Your Landlord Goodbye" name in favor of the Delaware Mortgage Program.
Delaware Mortgage Program DPA Options
Welcome Home vs. Open Door: Welcome Home serves first-time buyers (no ownership of a primary residence in the past 3 years, with exceptions for veterans and targeted areas) and gets access to all four DPA options. Open Door — the April 2026 rename of the former Home Again program — serves repeat buyers and those over Welcome Home's income limits, but only pairs with First State Home Loan and Keys4You. All four options are structured as 0% interest deferred second mortgages with no monthly payment.
Repeat buyers gained real ground in the April 2026 rebrand: Before the rebrand, the 4% DPA was exclusive to Home Again (now Open Door). Keys4You now opens that same 4% to Welcome Home borrowers too, and — more importantly for repeat buyers — Open Door's maximum assistance effectively increased from what was previously available. If you were told Open Door/Home Again only offers 3%, that information predates April 2026.
Eligibility & Income Limits
Both Welcome Home and Open Door require a minimum 620 credit score (below 660 requires housing counseling) and household income under limits that DSHA increased for new reservations received on or after June 8, 2026. DSHA DPA cannot be used with internet or out-of-state lenders.
Confirm your exact current income and purchase price limits at DEStateHousing.com before applying.
Current Rates
| Product | Rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 30-yr Conventional | 6.55% | Freddie Mac PMMS, week of July 16, 2026 |
| 15-yr Fixed | 5.93% | Freddie Mac PMMS, week of July 16, 2026 |
| DSHA Delaware Mortgage Program first mortgage | Below market | Confirm current rate with a DSHA-approved lender — rates set daily |
2026 Loan Limits by County
New Castle County (Wilmington/Newark corridor) carries an elevated FHA limit, while Kent and Sussex counties use the national floor.
| Loan Type | Kent & Sussex Counties | New Castle County |
|---|---|---|
| FHA | $541,287 | $630,200 |
| Conventional (Conforming) | $832,750 — same in all 3 counties | |
| VA | No county limit for buyers with full entitlement | |
Verify your exact county's FHA limit at HUD.gov before house-hunting.
Property Tax in Delaware — After the Reassessment
What Buyers Should Budget For
Delaware historically had one of the lowest property tax burdens in the country, helped in large part by counties simply not reassessing property for decades — Sussex County's assessed values dated to 1974 until a 2020 lawsuit forced all three counties to catch up. Kent County completed its reassessment for 2024, while New Castle and Sussex followed for 2025, and the transition has been genuinely turbulent: New Castle County alone saw average assessed values jump 433%, prompting a legislative special session in August 2025 and multiple relief bills still moving through the General Assembly into 2026, including proposals to raise the county's Senior School Property Tax Credit from $500 to $1,000. Because assessed value is not automatically the same as market value and Delaware offers few broad exemptions beyond the modest senior credit, verify a property's current post-reassessment tax bill directly with the county — don't rely on older listing data or a neighbor's decades-old assessment as a guide.
Pick Your Loan Type
Are you a teacher, nurse, firefighter, police officer, EMT, or veteran? Delaware may run additional hero-specific loan programs on top of the general DSHA options covered here. Browse the Hero Home Loan Programs hub and select Delaware for profession-specific options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Bottom Line: Delaware remains genuinely affordable with low property tax even after its historic reassessment, and the newly rebranded Delaware Mortgage Program gives both first-time and repeat buyers real down payment help. Given how recent and unsettled the reassessment fallout still is, verify a specific property's actual current tax bill directly with the county rather than relying on older figures.
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