Overview
- Realtor.com’s late‑2025 analysis finds the median down payment reached $30,400 in Q3 2025, more than double the $13,900 typical in Q3 2019.
- The U.S. personal savings rate averaged 5.1% in 2025, below the pre‑pandemic norm of 6.5%, slowing how quickly households can build cash.
- High‑cost coastal metros require decades to save a typical down payment, led by San Francisco at 36.5 years, San Jose at 36.2, Los Angeles at 34.1 and San Diego at 30.1, with New York at 23.4.
- Several Southern and military‑heavy metros need far less time—San Antonio at 1.3 years, Virginia Beach at 2.0, Memphis at 2.5 and Houston at 3.5—helped by smaller down payments and VA loan usage.
- Affordability has improved since 2022, a trend echoed by First American’s index through October 2025, though conditions remain tougher than before the pandemic and estimates depend on income, down‑payment and savings‑rate assumptions.