Which cities across the nation have highest and lowest average down payments? The folks over at Realtor.com turned over all the rocks to come up with a list of the highest & lowest down payments based on the percentage of a home’s sale price. Interestingly, only two of the top 10 cities exceed the 20% threshold while all of the top lowest were less than 10%.
Lenders prefer those gold standard 20% down payments because they ensure that buyers have enough skin in the game—and buyers aspire to them to avoid costly private mortgage insurance, which would allow them to put down less cash on the table. But many buyers also have access to a variety of mortgage programs, such as the Federal Housing Administration loan, which allow those with decent credit scores to put down only 3.5%. The catch: In some markets (often with sky-high home prices), many homes don’t qualify for these programs.
Click here to read the full story on Realtor.com.
