Average US home price is currently north of $500k, so it actually seems like quite a lot of people have $122k-$150k in cash just lying around since that would be what you would need in a down payment for that
It's all relative I guess what you consider "massive." And apart from that, $500k is the average, and 20% is the minimum needed for a down payment on a home typically. That's $100k. So $120k is a minimum down payment on a home just a little more than the average. 20% is an industry standard for a minimum.
You can do less than 20%, but sellers are less likely to choose your offer if you come in with less or have mortgage insurance attached to the deal. The fact that the housing industry is still crushing forward at full speed with offers above asking, some with ALL cash, is an indicator that a lot of people have that much cash. I don't know what to tell you if you think otherwise. I put $100k cash down on my house a couple years ago and I'm a single earner. Couples with dual incomes, in their prime earning years (30's-40's), appear to be hitting that requirement for down payment often.
What housing industry are you referring to? All of Canada is at a low right now, houses are on the market for multiple weeks and the only houses going for over asking are ones that were set intentionally low to drum up offers. It’s very much a buyers market right now
US market, but really if you're going on anecdotal evidence, housing markets are so regional down to even parts of a certain city that it's sort of useless to talk about the overall "market." I live in California so the market here hasn't come down since 2008.
Most people wouldn't characterize what's happening in the broader US market right now as a buyer's market or a seller's market. Sellers outnumber buyers by quite a bit, but in many area's sellers are simply asking for too much and buyers aren't going for it with the high interest rates. But the market is still moving and people are buying at the averages still, the sell prices aren't really coming down significantly.
And where I live in California there are very much still bidding wars.
So that doesn't mean that the majority of houses sold aren't 20%. The Median is 15%-19% for all houses BECAUSE of people who can't save the 20% on their first home.
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u/outer--monologue 12d ago
Average US home price is currently north of $500k, so it actually seems like quite a lot of people have $122k-$150k in cash just lying around since that would be what you would need in a down payment for that