At the end of last year, homebuyers in San Francisco and San Mateo County had a median down payment of 26 percent of the purchase price, which is the highest percentage of any major U.S. metro area. As of December 2024, the median down payment in the San Francisco metro area was $375,000, according to real estate firm Redfin, which analyzed data from the 40 most populous U.S. metro areas. The San Jose metro area, made up of Santa Clara and San Benito counties, was tied with the Anaheim metro area for the second-highest median down payment in the country, at 25 percent. Those were also much higher than the national figure, about 16 percent in December.
By percentage of purchase price, the San Francisco metro area has historically had the highest down payments. But the San Jose metro area’s high prices meant it had the highest median down payment in dollars, $386,000. That’s enough money to buy an entire home in Fresno.
Redfin’s data excludes cash sales, which tend to be rarer in the Bay Area compared to the rest of the country, with a few exceptions.
The metro area with the lowest median down payment was Virginia Beach, Virginia, at about 3% of the purchase price — just $10,000. In most of the metro areas analyzed by Redfin, homebuyers put down between 10% and 20%.
Making a lower down payment can make housing costs more expensive. According to Redfin, many lenders require homebuyers with a down payment of less than 20% to purchase mortgage insurance, which can cost 0.5% to 1.5% more than the initial loan amount. And putting more money down means smaller monthly payments, especially with mortgage rates still high — a priority for seven-figure home buyers.
“When it comes to multimillion-dollar properties, every eighth of a point makes a big difference,” said Sandy Jamison, a real estate broker with Tuscana Properties in Campbell.
But with home prices in the Bay Area rising so quickly, it’s hard for first-time buyers to save up enough money for a down payment, Jamison explained. She added that it’s primarily people who have received a windfall from stock options or an inheritance, or those who already own a home, who are able to get into the market. When they do, they often have enough funds to increase their down payment.
According to the National Association of Realtors, first-time home buyers typically have lower down payments than their regular counterparts because they can’t sell one home to pay for another. The trade group said the average down payment nationwide was 9% for first-time buyers in 2024, less than half the 23% for repeat buyers.