Down payments way up since pandemic lows

New research from Realtor.com has found that the typical down payment on a home in America has increased by more than $10,000 from the first quarter of 2020 until the first quarter of 2023. As pandemic-era savings have dwindled and the housing market has become less competitive, people are putting down a lower percentage of the home's price, but still a much higher dollar amount than pre-pandemic, the study found.

The typical down payment in Q1 2023 was 13.0 percent, down from the peak of{mprestriction ids="1,3"} 14.1 percent in 2022, but still up from pre-pandemic levels which hovered around 11 percent. The typical down payment was $24,100 in Q1 this year compared to $14,000 in 2020, an increase of 71.8 percent, due primarily to higher home prices.

The typical down payment at the peak in the second quarter of 2022 was $30,400, up 126.8 percent from Q2 2020.

The research also found that down payments on second homes and investment properties are roughly double the size of down payments on primary residences, as people with more disposable income are able to put more down.{/mprestriction}