Housing News

This Is How Much the Typical Down Payment is Across the Country

Forget the old “rules” of homebuying. Most buyers aren’t putting 20% down when purchasing a home, but they’re still putting down more than they did before the pandemic.

Nationally, the typical down payment was about 14.4% of the sale price of a home during the third quarter of 2025, according to a report from Realtor.com. That averaged out to roughly $30,400—more than double the nearly $14,000 that homebuyers shelled out in the third quarter of 2019.

And buyers in certain parts of the country are paying considerably more—or less.

The higher down payments are a result of home prices that have jumped almost 45% since 2019, as well as buyers putting more money down.

“Down payments remain elevated but steady, reflecting the broader housing environment,” said Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale in a statement. (Realtor.com used Optimal Blue data to figure out the typical down payment in the third quarter of 2025.)

Homebuyers may be able to use down payment assistance to help them bolster their savings and cover their closing costs. Down payment programs generally provide grants or forgivable or low-interest loans that buyers may be able to receive based on if they’re first-time homebuyers, their incomes, where they’re buying, their jobs, as well as other criteria.

This can pad their down payment funds and help them purchase a home sooner.

Where were down payments the highest and lowest?

Just how much buyers plunked down varied widely depending on location.

Buyers in the Northeast made the largest down payments, totaling about 18.2% of the purchase price. The average down payment was $62,900.

That was a whopping 245.9% more than buyers put down in 2019, when home prices were lower.

It was also nearly three times as much in dollars as buyers in the South, where home prices are generally lower. Buyers in this region kicked in an average 12.5% of the purchase price of their homes in the third quarter. That averaged about $22,800—90.2% more than in 2019.

In the Midwest, down payments were roughly 14.5% of the sale price, or about $28,000. This was up 144.7% from 2019. Meanwhile, buyers in the West paid about 16.3%, or $51,000, up 141.7% from 2019.

The good news for buyers scrambling to save is that down payment percentages are shrinking across the country compared to the third quarter of the year. However, whether the actual dollar amounts are rising or falling depends on which direction home prices in those regions are moving.

“As mortgage rates edge lower, we expect more variety in who can buy, and that could bring back smaller down payments,” Realtor.com’s Senior Economic Research Analyst Hannah Jones said in a statement.

“However, unless [the number of homes for sale] grows meaningfully, renewed competition could put upward pressure on prices and down payments once again,” Jones said.