AUSTIN, Texas–The median down payment on a home hit a record $29,900 during 2024, according to new data from Realtor.com. The figure has been driven up not just by the increased prices for homes, but also by buyers putting down more money upfront as they attempt to lower some of their borrowing costs, according to the new report.

The $29,000 median downpayment figure is $2,000 higher than in 2023. 

“Today’s home sales are skewed toward higher-end homes, and this means larger down payments from more financially prepared, high-earning buyers as entry-level and lower-earning buyers sit out,” Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said in a statement. 

The Realtor.com data show that when broken down by quarters, the median down payment was even higher, with the second quarter having the highest median payment ever.

The share of the initial payment increased as well, with the report showing that buyers put up 14.4% of the home’s purchase price last year, the most in more than a decade of data, Realtor.com reported, noting that before the COVID-19 pandemic, the typical downpayment was a far lower portion of the home’s price.

Downpayments Unlikely to Decline

It’s unlikely that down payments will drop much as long as borrowing costs remain near their recent highs, according to Hale. As the CU Daily reported, the average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.6% and has hovered near that level since early March, according to Freddie Mac.

“As mortgage rates ease, a more diverse set of buyers, in terms of budgets, will likely enter the market, and the incentive to minimize their home loan will soften,” Hale said in his statement. “However, if for-sale inventory fails to keep up with increased buyer demand, down payments could climb once again as the result of increased competition.”