faced with stiff competition in the us housing market over the last year home buyers upped their down payment to reach a record of 66000 in may according to a new report down payments peaked in may hitting a nineyear high where the typical down payment was 18 of a home’s purchase price a report from realestate brokerage redfin found in may and june the typical buyer was putting down 66000 redfin said but that number has cooled slightly since redfin also said that the typical us homebuyer who took out a mortgage in july 2022 made a 62500 down payment that’s still up 136 from a year ago and compared to the median amount people were putting down before the pandemic in july 2019 of 32917 the typical down payment doubled nearly 60 of buyers who had taken out a mortgage had put down more than 10 down payment which was up from the 50 range before the pandemic where down payments rose the most out of the top five metros where down payments rose the most the east coast dominated the list down payment dollar amounts rose the most in nashville tenn by nearly 40 from a year ago the typical down payment was 64250 in july   newark nj – typical down payment was 90000 in july up 364 from a year ago   new york city ny – typical down payment was 197875 up 348 from a year ago   new brunswick nj – typical down payment was 90000 up 343 from a year ago   charlotte nc – typical down payment was 48200 up 326 from a year ago but down payments fell in many cities in the us particularly out west down payments fell the most in riverside calif by 154 from a year ago to 55000 people were also putting down less in san francisco at 364000 down 78 from a year ago in terms of percentages the typical home buyer in denver was the most aggressive putting down 20 down in july according to redfin that’s up from the typical denver buyer putting down 15 a year ago expect down payment amounts to come back down higher mortgage rates are partly the reason why down payments have decreased “higher monthly mortgage payments and the rising cost of other goods and services cut into buyers’ budgets making it harder to come up with huge down payments” redfin said redfin on wednesday also added a feature which shows users down payment assistance information attached to home listings on its website forsale listings on redfin in future will include programs in the area that potential home buyers can tap on for down payment assistance but a slowing housing market means that people don’t need to put down large down payments to win bids on homes redfin noted “homebuyers don’t need to make enormous down payments anymore because they’re much less likely to encounter bidding wars now that so many americans have bowed out of the market” sheharyar bokhari senior economist at redfin said in a blog post so “while down payments will likely remain elevated above prepandemic levels they’ll probably fall a bit in the short term” he added got thoughts on the housing market write to marketwatch reporter aarthi swaminathan at aarthimarketwatchcom