2025 Reality Check: Here’s Exactly How Long Homebuyers Needed to Save for That Down Payment

Forget avocado toast—the real generational wealth gap is measured in years of savings.

The Down Payment Marathon

The timeline stretched longer than most expected. Traditional finance kept the gate locked tight, demanding a decade of disciplined scrimping for the average first-timer. Banks smiled, offered congratulations on the milestone, and quietly collected another generation's prime earning years in interest.

A System Built on Scarcity

It’s the ultimate finance irony: you need to prove you don’t need the money to get it. The rules haven't changed, just the distance to the finish line. Wage growth? Lagging. Home price appreciation? Soaring. The math got brutal, turning homeownership into a distant summit for anyone without a head start or a family bank.

The New Math of Ownership

While the old guard celebrated 'responsible lending,' a parallel system was being built—one that operates 24/7, bypasses credit scores, and rewards early adoption over inherited privilege. It doesn't ask for your W-2; it asks for your conviction. The digital asset space became the side-hustle that turned into a down payment for a savvy few, proving that in a broken system, you sometimes have to build your own ladder.

Maybe the problem was never how long it takes to save, but what we're being told to save in. The clock's ticking, but not everyone is using the same watch.

Key Takeaways

• It took the typical American seven years to save for the median down payment for a house, down from the peak a few years ago but still above pre-pandemic levels.
• Down payments have gotten higher amid rising home prices, while a slower savings rate is also extending the time it takes to save for a house.
• It can take decades to save for a down payment in high-cost markets like San Francisco, while it may only take a few years in other markets.

For most Americans, saving enough for a down payment takes years. But today’s buyers are reaching that goal faster than they have in recent memory.

In 2025, the typical American needed seven years to save for a median home down payment, according to Realtor.com—down sharply from 12 years in 2022. Even so, that timeline is still nearly double what it was before the pandemic, when surging home prices put ownership further out of reach for many would-be buyers.

Why This is Important for the Economy

When it takes longer to save for a down payment, people often put off buying, leaving them vulnerable to rising rents. It also means fewer people get access to home equity, one of the main ways Americans build long-term wealth. On a broader level, delayed homeownership can slowing housing demand, construction, mortgage activity, and even consumer spending tied to moves and home improvements.

“Although conditions have improved since 2022, today’s timeline shows that saving for a home takes meaningfully longer than it did before the pandemic, especially in high-cost markets,” Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale said in a release.

Americans Are Saving Less

Down payments have become more difficult for buyers to raise for two reasons, the report found. Higher home prices are pushing up the cost of a down payment, while a lower savings rate means it takes longer for buyers to raise those funds.

“Higher home prices and intensified competition have pushed typical down payments higher, at the same time that inflation and rising household expenses have reduced savings rates,” Hale said.

Home prices have surged since the pandemic, with S&P Case-Shiller home price index data showing that prices have increased by 55% between September 2019 and September 2025. Likewise, between the third quarter of 2019 and the same period in 2025, the typical down payment has more than doubled, increasing from $13,900 to $30,400. 

At the same time, the U.S. personal savings rate stood at 5.1% of income in 2025, well below the pre-pandemic levels of around 6.5%.

Down Payments As a Share of Home Prices Tick Higher

While housing experts recommend putting 20% of a home price as a down payment, Realtor.com found that most buyers fall short of that mark. Buyers in the third quarter of 2025 averaged down payments that were 14.4% of the home price.

However, the surge in home prices hasn’t reduced the percentage of purchase price that homebuyers devote to a down payment, the data showed. Downpayments have hovered around 14% since 2022, primarily because only richer homebuyers can afford the higher housing prices.

“In recent years, down payments have remained elevated as worsening affordability has narrowed the buyer pool to more qualified households, which tend to put more money down upfront,” wrote Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst with Realtor.com.

Why Location Matters

The size of a down payment varies depending upon location. More affordable markets generally have lower average down payments. Military communities also often see lower down payments since VA loans often don’t require them. 

The difference can be stark. It can take a San Francisco household with the median income more than 36 years to save for that city's $245,466 median down payment, while a median household in San Antonio, Texas, or Virginia Beach, Va., WOULD only need one year or two, respectively, to save for a local downpayment. Both cities have a significant military presence.

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