A quarterly drop in the average size of down payments on house purchases suggests easing by mortgage lenders.
The average U.S. borrower made a 15.73 percent down payment on their home purchase during the third quarter of this year.
The average reflected residential loan borrowers who took out a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage to finance a purchase.
LendingTree, which reported the statistics Tuesday, said average down payments declined 2.74 percent from the second quarter.
“Lenders are putting more focus on purchase mortgages and are adjusting minimum requirements to attract borrowers,” LendingTree Founder and Chief Executive Officer Doug Lebda said in the announcement. “With home values improving, the risk of borrowers defaulting on loans has decreased, giving lenders more confidence to lend with less cash down from qualified borrowers.”
Average down payments were lowest in Nebraska at 12.49 percent.
South Dakota was close behind at 12.84 percent.
After that was 12.88 percent in Arkansas, 12.89 percent in Alabama and 13.12 in Missouri.
At the other end of the scale was New Jersey, where down payments averaged 18.79 percent.
