- The Median Down Payment Is 11 Percent
Down payments greater than or equal to 20 percent were made by 34 percent of all residential home purchasers last month, a percentage that has remained relatively stable over the past year, according to the latest REALTOR® Confidence Index survey from the National Association of REALTORS®.
For both conventional and FHA loans, which require only a 3.5 percent down payment, NAR reported the median down payment for all buyers was 11 percent in 2010-2011. First time buyers put about 5 percent down in 2011. Repeat buyers, pooling equity with savings, typically put down about 15 percent.
The states with the highest median down payments were Washington, D.C. (13.5 percent), New York (13.47 percent), Hawaii (13.33 percent) and California (13.22 percent). The state with the lowest average down payment is North Dakota, where buyers put down an average of 11.34 percent.
Down payments are a major barrier to first-time buyers, whose market share has dwindled since the home buyer tax credits expired in 2010. Half of all potential buyers planning to buy in two years or more are waiting in part because they lack the money for a down payment or closing costs.
Wallingford Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086
