Many would-be buyers think that in order to make their dream of homeownership a reality, they need to have 20 percent of the home’s purchase price to put down as a down payment. But, that’s just not true. The truth is, the vast majority of first-time buyers are buying their homes with significantly less.
According to Genworth Mortgage Insurance’s recent First-Time Homebuyer Market Report, a whopping 80 percent of first-time homebuyers (473,000) used a low down payment mortgage product to buy their home, in just the third quarter of 2019 alone.
In fact, the majority of low down payment mortgages go to first-time buyers (for example, in 2018, 88 percent of purchase loans with a 3 percent to 5 percent down payment went to first-time buyers—as did more than half (53 percent) of the 5 percent to 10 percent down payment loans).
What does this mean for you? If you’ve been waiting to buy your first home until you have a 20 percent down payment in the bank, you might be able to become a homeowner with a much lower down payment than you think.
View properties available in the area today. Start your search for your dream home or real estate property now. Or, use my Find Your New Home form and I'll conduct a personalized search for you.