With the housing market continuing to struggle and fewer consumers being able to purchase a new home or apartment, LendingTree.com has released data highlighting the average downpayments on residential real estate purchases for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The study finds that New Jersey leads the country with the highest average downpayment of 13.76 percent. The state with the lowest average downpayment is North Dakota, where buyers put down an average of 11.37 percent when purchasing a home.
The locations rounding out the top five for highest downpayments including Washington, D.C. (13.54 percent), New York (13.51 percent), Hawaii (13.37 percent) and California (13.25 percent). The states completing the bottom five are Wyoming (11.42 percent), Oklahoma (11.67 percent), Utah (11.75 percent) and Tennessee (11.75 percent). Overall, the average downpayment for all states is 12.29 percent.
“If Federal regulators were to adopt the proposed 20 percent down payment requirement, a majority of borrowers wouldn’t be able to meet the standard given the findings in this report,” said Doug Lebda, founder and chief executive officer of LendingTree. “The proposed rule is part of a larger set of requirements that would exempt qualified borrowers from risk retention requirements and would have access to the lowest rates available. While this rule has yet to be put into effect, borrowers should be aware of the possibility and plan for future home loan needs. By utilizing LendingTree, borrowers can find the lowest rates available, find the best deal, and decrease monthly payments to make the dream of owning a home a reality.”
Additional findings from the LendingTree data include:
►New Jersey, a state with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio lower than the national average, also has a higher average home price than most other states. However, New Jersey falls into the higher end of the spectrum in terms of average debt-to-income (DTI) ratios.
►Nevada, a state that has had high foreclosure rates and sharp decrease in the numbers of homes purchased, actually ranks as the state with the ninth highest average downpayment at 13.05 percent.
►The state with the most closings to date in 2011 is Texas, with 39,498 (through October 2011). South Dakota has the fewest closings this year with only 807.
