( WFLA /NEXSTAR) — Buying a home has always been a major investment, but now for the average American, their down payment may be more money than they were expecting.
An analysis from Zillow shows U.S. citizens who make the median household income, ( $74,580 , according to the U.S. Census Bureau ), need to pay roughly a 35% down payment on their homes in hopes of sustaining a reasonable monthly mortgage payment.
Zillow found the average U.S. home costs an estimated $360,000. This means if the average American hopes to keep their mortgage payment at less than 30% of their monthly income, a broadly accepted standard of affordability, they’d have to pay $127,750 for their down payment.
Just five years ago, the real estate company said the typical home was worth about 50 percent less, and many homes would have been affordable for those same Americans with no money down.
According to Zillow, there are still “affordable pockets” in the U.S. where a median-income household can afford monthly payments on a typical home for less than a 10% down payment.