In some markets, home buyers are bringing down payments to the closing table that are larger than the 20 percent industry benchmark. For example, in San Jose, Calif., buyers are putting down an average 23.9 percent of the sale price of a home.
Realtor.com® analyzed mortgage data to identify the average down payment in each of the 50 largest U.S. metros. The markets with the highest down payments tended to be in the areas where homes also cost the most, researchers found. Saving for a down payment remains a major obstacle to buyers in purchasing a home. “Coming up with a big enough down payment is one of the top impediments to purchase,” says Javier Vivas, director of economic research at realtor.com®. “It’s really challenging for younger buyers who don’t have deep pockets and haven’t had time to build up that big financial lump sum.”
The places where buyers are making the largest down payments are:
- San Jose, Calif.: 23.9%
- San Francisco: 22.6%
- Los Angeles: 17.9%
- Boston: 16.3%
- San Diego: 15.9%
- Austin, Texas: 15.3%
- Denver: 15.2%
On the flip side, the following are the cities where buyers are making the smallest down payments:
- Virginia Beach, Va.: 6.8%
- Cincinnati: 8.6%
- San Antonio: 8.6%
- Cleveland: 8.7%
- Rochester, N.Y.: 8.8%
- Memphis, Tenn.: 9.1%
- Columbus, Ohio: 9.2%
Source: “Ante Up! U.S. Housing Markets With the Biggest—and Smallest—Down Payments,” realtor.com® (March 26, 2018)
