--- title: The Typical Down Payment for a House Has Doubled in Just 3 Years description: The median down payment for home sales soared during the pandemic as buyers struggled in an ultra-competitive housing market. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently covers news stories about housing topics including home buying, mortgage rates and homeowners insurance. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 602 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2022-10-06T20:48:18.000Z' modified: '2024-02-18T13:36:18.000Z' section: Housing tags: - News word_count: 635 canonical: https://money.com/typical-down-payment-house-doubled/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo collage illustration of a person on top of a stack of dollars trying to reach a house that is too high above their reach.](https://img.money.com/2022/10/News-Median-home-down-payment-doubled.jpg?crop=0px%2C132px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) Presented by ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/38138/a1d25ab8-422a-48d0-9bc7-c9801c2d423d.webp) Becoming a homeowner is closer than you think with AmeriSave Mortgage. Don't wait any longer, start your journey today! [Go to AmeriSave.com](https://money.com/pr/vfba9b7bee33?ap_referrer=%2Ftypical-down-payment-house-doubled%2F) The median [down payment](https://money.com/5-ways-to-afford-down-payment/) on homes in major U.S. markets doubled in the last three years — far outpacing the rise of house prices themselves. In May and June 2022, the median down payment for home purchases by buyers with [mortgages](https://money.com/best-mortgage-lenders/) hit a peak of around $66,000, according to a [new analysis](https://www.redfin.com/news/homebuyer-down-payments-doubled-during-pandemic/) of 40 metro areas from real estate brokerage Redfin. Three years earlier, during the summer of 2019 before the pandemic-era housing boom, the median down payment was just under $33,000. In other words, the typical down payment rose by 100% during that three-year span. Meanwhile, [home prices](https://money.com/when-will-home-prices-fall/) were also soaring, but not nearly as quickly, increasing by about 38% during the three years ending in July 2022, Redfin reported. ## Lock in the best Mortgage Rate for you today ### Act today, and don’t stress about the future. Lendingtree Mortgage can help you lock in a low Mortgage Rate for 90 days. Click on your state now to get started. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/n6a8a4859d63?ap_referrer=%2Ftypical-down-payment-house-doubled%2F) Not all products are eligible. All loans are subject to credit approval. [Additional](https://www.amerisave.com/lock-shop/) terms & conditions apply. ## Why down payments rose so much For most of the pandemic, the housing market sizzled. Offers came in fast, [bidding wars were common](https://money.com/coronavirus-home-bidding-wars/), homes were often selling for [above list price](https://money.com/housing-market-not-cooling/) — and down payment amounts climbed higher and higher. When sellers have multiple offers, a large down payment can signal that the buyer is serious and has the means to close the purchase, according to Redfin. As the [housing market grew more competitive](https://money.com/why-home-sellers-cash-offers-lower-bids/), the typical down payment soared as buyers put more money down to increase their chances of sealing the deal. Prior to the pandemic, the typical down payment was about 10% of the purchase price of a home. That percentage peaked at 18% in May and stood at 15% in July, according to Redfin. Experts at Realtor.com came to similar findings in a [May analysis](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/down-payments-are-rising/), reporting that down payments rose faster than home prices from the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2022. Some buyers were able to put up larger down payments because they were saving on things like entertainment and travel during the pandemic, while also receiving [cash from stimulus check programs](https://money.com/stimulus-checks-to-buy-first-home/). In the past year, down payments increased at the fastest pace in Nashville (39.7%), Newark, N.J. (36.4%) and New York City (34.8%), Redfin reports. Down payments declined or stayed flat in seven metros, most of which are California markets where home prices are cooling faster than they are in other areas of the country. ## Take the first step to becoming a homeowner today ### Get a Mortgage Rate that works for you. Lendingtree Mortgage can help you get started with just a few clicks. Get started now by clicking below. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/h08d66976da7?ap_referrer=%2Ftypical-down-payment-house-doubled%2F) Not all products are eligible. All loans are subject to credit approval. [Additional](https://www.amerisave.com/lock-shop/) terms & conditions apply. ## What's next for home prices (and down payments) The rise in down payment amounts helps illustrate how tough it has become for buyers to afford homes. For Americans who live paycheck to paycheck, [coming up with a down payment](https://money.com/low-down-payment-loans/) is often the biggest barrier to [buying a home](https://money.com/first-time-buying-home-checklist/). [Mortgage rates have soared](https://money.com/current-mortgage-rates/) in recent months, pricing buyers out of the market with the increased cost of borrowing money for a home purchase. [Home prices are now falling](https://money.com/home-prices-falling-fastest-pace-2008/) at the fastest pace since the 2008 financial crisis, but prices are still up year-over-year. Combine expensive home prices and larger down payments with high [mortgage rates](https://money.com/current-mortgage-rates/) and tight home supply in many markets, and you get a bleak situation for buyers. For buyers looking for a home right now, the good news is that prices are dropping (slightly) and there’s less competition. So the days of needing to put up a disproportionally large down payment may be coming to an end, according to Redfin. The median down payment dropped to $62,500 in July 2022, from $66,000 in June, according to Redfin, and further declines are likely. “Homebuyers don’t need to make enormous down payments anymore because they’re much less likely to encounter bidding wars now that so many Americans have bowed out of the market,” Sheharyar Bokhari, senior economist at Redfin, said in the report. “While down payments will likely remain elevated above pre-pandemic levels, they’ll probably fall a bit in the short term.” ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/typical-down-payment-house-doubled/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Housing", "item": "https://money.com/housing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Home Buying", "item": "https://money.com/home-buying/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Typical Down Payment for a House Has Doubled in Just 3 Years" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/typical-down-payment-house-doubled/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/typical-down-payment-house-doubled/", "name": "The Typical Down Payment for a House Has Doubled in Just 3 Years", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-10-06T20:48:18.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/typical-down-payment-house-doubled/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/typical-down-payment-house-doubled/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-02-18T13:36:18.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "The Typical Down Payment for a House Has Doubled in Just 3 Years", "articleSection": "Housing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/10/News-Median-home-down-payment-doubled.jpg?crop=0px%2C132px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Median-home-down-payment-doubled" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently covers news stories about housing topics including home buying, mortgage rates and homeowners insurance.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/peter.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "email": "peter.grieve@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead News Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of Chicago, BA Political Science", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/pete_grieve", "https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138", "https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2022-10-06T20:48:18.000Z", "description": "The median down payment for home sales soared during the pandemic as buyers struggled in an ultra-competitive housing market.", "abstract": "The median down payment for home sales soared during the pandemic as buyers struggled in an ultra-competitive housing market.", "@id": "https://money.com/typical-down-payment-house-doubled/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-02-18T13:36:18.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "wordCount": 635, "keywords": [ "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Housing in the United States", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_in_the_United_States" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Real estate", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estate" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Housing market", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_market" ] } ] } ] } ```