Mortgage rates began to climb in 2022 in response to skyrocketing housing costs. Rates reached a high of 7.08% in late 2022. Here at the beginning of 2025, rates average 6.99%.

Home prices are still rising. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAC), the average price of a starter home in 2018 was $203,000. Today, that same home will cost you an average of $250,000, an increase of over 5%.

At first glance, it would seem first-time buyers have been priced out of the market, but there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. DevNW has made it their mission to provide housing assistance and financial counseling in the Willamette Valley for over forty years. For those following the path to homeownership they provide education, one on one counseling, matching funds savings accounts, and both grants and forgivable second mortgages towards down payments and closing costs. In the past, they distributed funding for U.S. Veterans (up to $30,000!) and assisted first-time and first-generation homeowners with grants of up to $125,000.  

DevNW offers potential homebuyers all of this, plus workshops around finances and home maintenance, for a single yearly fee of $75. They also provide scholarships to those in need. Their February workshop, Love and Money and Chocolate, is sure to be well attended, and they are offering Extreme Couponing in March.

Buying a home in 2025 requires ingenuity, persistence, and a little help from our friends. Heritage Grove Federal Credit Union and DevNW are proud to partner in the quest to help our members into their dream homes.

For more information, call Dev NW at 503.779.2680.

For questions about a purchase, refinance, or home equity, call/text 503.588.0211 option 4 or email mortgage@ourgrovecu.com to speak with a Real Estate Lending Specialist.

Written by Elena Christian