Buyers now need $20K for a down payment, the highest ever

Struggling first-time buyers have needed almost $6,000 more in the fall of 2017 than they did a year ago, as the median down payment reached a record high

Buyers now need $20K for a down payment, the highest ever
Struggling first-time buyers have needed almost $6,000 more in the fall of 2017 than they did a year ago, as the median down payment reached a record high.

ATTOM Data Solutions says that in the third quarter of 2017, the median down payment was $20,000, up from $18,161 in the second quarter of 2017 and up from $14,400 in Q3 2016.

It’s the highest figure since the earliest records available, in the first quarter of 2000.

The $20K down payment is based on 7.6% of the median sales price of $263,000 for a financed home bought in the third quarter of 2017, up from 7.1% in the previous quarter and 6.1% in Q3, 2016.

"Buying a home has become a full-contact sport in many markets across the country, and buyers with the beefiest down payments — not to mention all-cash buyers — are often able to muscle out those with scrawnier savings," said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president with ATTOM Data Solutions. "Despite the increasingly competitive nature of homebuying, the number of residential property purchase loans nationwide increased to a 10-year high in the third quarter."

Even $20K doesn’t come close in these markets
In America’s highest-priced markets, first-time buyers with $20,000 saved are not even half way to achieving their dream.

In 12 of the 99 metros surveyed, the median down payment was at least $50,000 and the numbers in the most expensive markets are staggering.

San Jose tops the list at $247,000 followed by San Francisco at $170,000, Los Angeles at $118,000, Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California ($105,000); and Boulder, Colorado ($99,900).

Increase in purchase loans and HELOCs
There was an increase in originations of purchase loans and HELOCs in the third quarter.

Overall there were 2.4 million loans originated, a 17% increase from the previous quarter but down 5% from Q3, 2016.

Purchase loans accounted for 1.1 million (up 8% q-o-q and 7% y-o-y) – a 10-year high.

Refinance loans increased 28% from the previous quarter to 981,773 but were down 19% year-over-year.

HELOCs were up 19% q-o-q and up 12% y-o-y to a total of 393,602.