Down payments have leveled off as the housing market cools

Down payments stayed largely unchanged in the third quarter of 2025 as homebuyers balanced high prices with slowing demand, according to Realtor.com’s newest Down Payment Report.

The typical down payment was $30,400 — about $500 more than the previous quarter and roughly flat from a year earlier. Buyers continued to put down about 14.4% of the purchase price on average.

Down payments usually rise through the first half of the year, but gains in 2025 were smaller. Between the first and third quarters, the typical down payment rose just 0.5 percentage points — or $1,500 — compared with 0.8 points and $4,000 during the same stretch of 2024.

“Down payments remain elevated but steady, reflecting the broader housing environment,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “High prices and borrowing costs continue to test affordability, keeping many potential buyers on the sidelines and slowing overall sales activity.

“Even with mortgage rates easing into the low 6% range in recent months, the combination of high prices and limited inventory has left little relief for cost-sensitive home shoppers, while increasingly concentrating homebuying among higher-income households.”

Typical down payments are also still far above pre-pandemic norms, the report added.

The third-quarter median down payment of $30,400 is up 118% from $13,900 in 2019, exceeding the roughly 45% increase in home prices during that time. Down payments rose sharply from 2020 to 2022 due to record-low mortgage rates and fierce competition before leveling off near 14% to 15% of the purchase price.

Stronger buyer profiles dominate

Financially stronger buyers continue to lead the market.

The median FICO score among homebuyers held at 735 in the third quarter — the highest number in more than a decade and about 20 points above the national average.

Higher-priced homes are also taking up more market share. Between January and July, sales of homes priced above $750,000 increased nearly 6% from a year earlier, while sales of lower-priced homes fell about 3%. Entry-level purchases have lagged as a result.

Buyers of investment and vacation properties continued to make the largest down payments, averaging 26.7% and 26.9% of the purchase price, respectively. That equates to $84,200 for investment homes and $110,100 for second homes.

Uneven recovery

Regional differences remained pronounced.

The Northeast posted the highest down payment share at 18.2%, followed by the West at 16.3%, the Midwest at 14.5% and the South at 12.5%.

Each region saw slight declines from a year earlier, led by 0.6-point drops in the South and West.

Median down payments rose 5.6% year over year to $62,900 in the Northeast and 5.8% to $28,000 in the Midwest. The West fell 5.6% to $51,000, and the South dropped 4.4% to $22,800.

“As mortgage rates edge lower, we expect more variety in who can buy, and that could bring back smaller down payments,” said Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com. “However, unless inventory grows meaningfully, renewed competition could put upward pressure on prices and down payments once again.”