Down Payment on Homes Jump Nearly 25 Percent in One Year to Almost $56,000

Down payments made by homebuyers have increased by almost 25 percent over the past year, with buyers attempting to make as large a down payment as possible to reduce their monthly mortgage payments, according to real estate brokerage Redfin. “The median down payment for U.S. homebuyers was $55,640 in February,” according to a March 29 press release by Redfin. “That’s up 24.1 percent from $44,850 a year earlier—the largest annual increase in percentage terms since April 2022. The typical homebuyer’s down payment last month [February] was equal to 15 percent of the purchase price, up from 10 percent a year earlier.” Part of the reason why down payments have increased is that home prices rose 6.6 percent year over year in February, Redfin noted. Elevated housing costs, from high mortgage rates and high home prices, are incentivizing prospective buyers to commit to bigger down payments, it said....