Getting a Mortgage in Vermont: 2026 Guide

The Burlington metro (Chittenden County) anchors most of Vermont's mortgage volume, with steady demand from the University of Vermont, the medical center, and corporate employers. Pricing in Chittenden County runs materially above the rest of the state.

Outside Burlington, Montpelier, Rutland, Brattleboro, and ski-area communities (Stowe, Killington, Stratton, Manchester) each anchor smaller markets. Ski-area secondary-home demand is a meaningful slice of statewide activity.

Vermont's combined homestead and non-homestead property tax structure (with separate tax rates and the Education Property Tax adjustment) makes tax-line modeling unusually complex.

For 2026, the conforming one-unit loan limit in every Vermont county is $806,500 and the statewide FHA one-unit floor is $524,225. There are no high-cost designations anywhere in Vermont.

Higher-end Burlington and ski-area contracts can push into jumbo territory above the conforming cap. Across the rest of the state, the floor figures apply.

Vermont has one of the higher effective property tax rates in the country, around 1.83% of market value statewide. Vermont splits property tax into homestead and non-homestead components with separate tax rates, and the Education Property Tax is adjusted by the state each year. The tax line on a primary residence is often materially different from the tax line on a second home or short-term rental.

Always pull the actual town tax line for the specific parcel and confirm the homestead declaration is filed once the property becomes your principal residence. Without a homestead declaration, the property is taxed at the higher non-homestead rate.

The Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) runs the dominant first-time buyer first mortgage program family in the state. The MOVE Mortgage pairs a discounted-rate first mortgage with optional ASSIST down-payment assistance for income-eligible buyers.

VHFA also runs the Advantage Mortgage (no PMI option for income-eligible buyers) and the Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) program. Funding levels and parameters are reviewed periodically.

Vermont has steady eligible-veteran demand statewide, with no major active-duty military installation. The 2026 VA county loan limit in every Vermont county matches the conforming baseline of $806,500.

VA funding fee on a no-down-payment first-time use is 2.15% of the loan amount; subsequent use without a down payment is 3.3%. Borrowers receiving VA disability compensation are exempt.

Vermont charges a property transfer tax of 0.5% on the first $100,000 of consideration plus 1.45% on the balance, customarily paid by the buyer. A separate Clean Water Surcharge applies. Plan for buyer-side closing costs of roughly 2.5 to 3% of the purchase price in Vermont, plus prepaid escrows.

Standard purchase closings run 35 to 45 days. Vermont allows judicial foreclosure (most common), strict foreclosure (a Vermont-specific procedure), and non-judicial foreclosure under power-of-sale clauses.