The national median down payment hit its highest level since at least 2005, ATTOM Data Solutions reports. The median down payment on a single-family home purchased with financing in the third quarter was $27,500. That is up 41% from $19,502 in the third quarter of 2020.
Overall, the median down payment of $27,500 represented 8% of the national median sales price for homes purchased with financing in the third quarter, up from 6.5% a year earlier.
Down payments are higher likely because home prices are higher. The National Association of REALTORS® reports that existing-home sale prices were 13% higher in October compared to a year earlier.
While borrowers are bringing more money to settlement, they are also financing more of the home purchase than in years past. The median loan amount was $295,954 in the third quarter, up 13% compared to a year earlier, according to ATTOM Data Solutions.
Metro Areas With Highest Down Payments
The following 10 metros had the highest median down payments on single-family homes and condos purchased in the third quarter, according to ATTOM Data Solutions:
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.: $336,700
- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.: $253,000
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.: $166,500
- Boulder, Colo.: $151,325
- Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif.: $145,540
- San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif.: $134,000
- Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.: $110,600
- Santa Rosa, Calif.: $110,500
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.: $107,000
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.: $101,125
Source: ATTOM Data Solutions
