The typical downpayment for a home purchase in the third quarter of 2025 was $30,400, nearly 118% higher than the third quarter of 2019, when buyers typically put down $13,900.

Those higher table stakes for homeownership “are both drivers and symptoms of shifting market dynamics,” according to a recent analysis by Realtor.com.

The average downpayment during the third quarter was about $500 more than the second quarter but roughly the same as a year ago, equating to about 14.4% of the purchase price, per the Realtor.com report.

“Downpayments remain elevated but steady, reflecting the broader housing environment,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at the listings platform. “High prices and borrowing costs continue to test affordability, keeping many potential buyers on the sidelines and slowing overall sales activity.”

The report also highlighted how the affordability challenges mentioned by Hale have skewed housing access toward higher earning, traditionally qualified borrowers better equipped to navigate high home prices, high mortgage rates and tighter lending standards.

Sales of homes priced higher than $750,000 increased 6% from a year ago during the first seven months of 2025, while lower-priced sales declined roughly 3%. With expensive homes now accounting for a larger share of activity, starter home prices dipped in August.

Sitting at its highest level in more than a decade, the typical homebuyer FICO score was 735 in the third quarter, roughly 20 points above the national average, per Realtor.com.

“Even with mortgage rates easing into the low-6% range in recent months, the combination of high prices and limited inventory has left little relief for cost-sensitive home shoppers, while increasingly concentrating homebuying among higher-income households,” Hale added.

Real estate investors responsible for roughly one-third of home sales in the current market have also found it easier to operate with traditional buyers sidelined.

Average downpayment shares for purchases of investment properties and second homes were 26.7% ($84,200) and 26.9% ($110,100) of purchase price respectively in the third quarter, almost twice the share of primary residence, the report indicated.

Regional divergence also appeared in third-quarter downpayment figures, with homebuyers in the Northeast putting down the largest median downpayment by dollars ($62,900) and share (18.2%). Homebuyers in the West paid the second-largest share at $51,000 and 16.3%, followed by those in the Midwest ($28,000; 14.5%) and South ($22,800; 12.5%).

The typical downpayment has risen notably across all four regions since the third quarter of 2019. In the Northeast, the average downpayment share as a percentage of purchase price jumped 5.9% during that time, followed by a 4% gain in the Midwest, a 3.9% increase in the West and a 3.2% rise in the South.

But median downpayment share declined in all four regions year over year in the third quarter of 2025, falling 0.2% in the Northeast, 0.6% in the West, 0.1% in the Midwest and 0.6% in the South.

Median downpayment size also declined year over year by 5.6% in the West and 4.4% in the South, though it rose by 5.6% in the Northeast and 5.8% in the Midwest.

“As mortgage rates edge lower, we expect more variety in who can buy, and that could bring back smaller downpayments,” commented Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com. “However, unless inventory grows meaningfully, renewed competition could put upward pressure on prices and downpayments once again.”