The average down payment increased in the fourth quarter of 2014, helped by gains in the job market and rising home values, according to a report by online loan marketplace LendingTree.
The average down payment on a conventional loan offer increased in the fourth quarter to $47,585 from $45,545 during the same quarter last year, a more than 4% increase, the report found.
Down payment percentages for conventional 30-year fixed-rate purchase mortgages grew 17.59%, a jump of nearly two percentage points from the same period in 2013.
Borrowers with sizeable down payments came into the housing market in greater numbers, in part because of the improving job and housing markets as well as low mortgage rates, LendingTree founder and CEO Doug Lebda said in a press release.
He added that substantial down payments will afford borrowers the opportunity to build home equity and reduce their monthly mortgage payments.
