The mortgage myth keeping middle-income renters on the sidelines
Yet awareness of those programs remains strikingly low among the buyers they are built to serve.
Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), has addressed the disconnect directly. In a previous interview with Mortgage Professional America, Fratantoni said, “Just like it has been for decades, it is tough for someone to break into the market. Thankfully, there are a range of different financing options, and now a range of different down payment assistance programs and other methods to help somebody get in.”
The information gap brokers can close
When asked where they turn first with a homebuying question, 36% said Google or a general internet search, 15% said friends or family, and 9% said AI tools. Only 6% named a mortgage lender or loan officer.
Among Gen Z renters — 83% of whom said they expect to own a home in their lifetime — just 2% went to a mortgage professional first, making them ten times more likely to ask friends or family before consulting an expert.
Nearly half of all respondents (46%) had never researched a single homebuying assistance program in depth, even though 90% said they were aware at least one exists.
