10 cities with the lowest down payment

I talked about cities you will need a larger down payment to secure the home of your dreams, but if you’re looking for a home with lowest down payment. Maybe you’re looking for your own Chip and Joanne moment. Where chip says you bought the house for $200,000 and all-in budget is X and you know those buyers put down less than 20% to secure their home. This blog post is worth checking out. 

 

 

1. Fayetteville North Carolina – The Average down payment is 3.7% and the median home list price is $204,950
2. Alexandria Louisiana – The Average Down payment is 5.1% and the median list price is $170,500
3. Wheeling West Virginia- The Average Down payment  is 5.1% and the median list price is $149,500 
4. Clarksville Tennesee- The Average Down payment is 5.7% and the median list price is $310,000
5. Albany Georgia- The Average Down payment is 6.3% and the median list price is $148,250
6. McAllen Texas The Average Down payment is 6.4 and the median list price is $264,900
7. Springfield Ohio The average Down payment is 6.5% and the median list price is $145,225
8. Florence South Carolina  The average Down payment is 6.9% and the median list price is $219,200
9. Terre Haute Indiana The Average Down payment  is 6.9% and the median list price is $126,400
10. Tupelo Mississippi  The Average down payment is is 7.2% and the median list price is $235,000

Trend 1) Areas with more VA and USDA loans give buyers a break 

Many of the markets with lower down payments have a larger number of qualified buyers using VA and US Dept of agriculture loans  which require low down payments or none at all.  Fayetteville North Carolina has the lowest down payment of just 3.7%. Fort Bragg is home to Fayetteville and 550,000 soldiers are stationed. More then half of the mortgages are VA Loans.

Before covid it was fairly common for buyers in Fayetteville were not putting anything down and sellers were paying closing cost. This all changed once the pandemic hit. 

Clarksville Tennesee had the fourth lowest down payment, but had a high percentage of VA loans. The city is near the Army installation of fort Campbell and VA loans made 49.9% of all mortgage in the metro area. 

Wheeling West Virginia USDA loans were popular since the area is rather rural. Those loans made up 21.5%. Other areas that also made up USDA loans were Tupelo. USDA Loans with Federal housing administration reguire 3.5 down. 

Trend 2) Higher down payments aren’t as critical in any lower priced housing markets 

Housing down payments are less common in parts of the country that are still struggling economically. In Wheeling the area is trying to return back but lack of good paying jobs means a large population can’t afford the downpayment so down payments remain low. 

Conclusion

I always tell buyers the perfect home is available to every single person, and if you can live anywhere then you might find that home where you put very little down and your mortgage payment is very small. Sometimes we just have to go outside the major city to find the deal that works for us and a great Realtor can do that. If 2022 is the year you want to go from renting to own lets figure out a plan for you. Contact me.