Colorado buyers would have a difficult time meeting a federal proposal for 20 percent down payments on home purchases, according to a report today from LendingTree, an online lender exchange.
Down payments on residential real estate purchases in the state are averaging 12.42 percent through November, LendingTree reports.
“If federal regulators were to adopt the proposed 20 percent down payment requirement, a majority of borrowers wouldn’t be able to meet the standard given the findings in this report,” said Doug Lebda, founder and CEO of LendingTree, in a release.
The proposal is part of an expanded set of requirements that would create a category of “qualified” mortgages with smaller reserves set aside and at lower interest rates.
Before the housing crisis, buyers could get into a home with no down payment, thanks to easy-to-get second mortgages and home equity lines of credit.
And while down payments are much higher than six years ago, they aren’t high enough to meet a 20 percent requirement.
Even in the states where buyers contribute the most to a down payment, the averages are only in the 13 percent range of the purchase price.
Those states include New Jersey, New York, Hawaii, California, Florida and Alaska, as well as the District of Columbia.
Colorado’s down payment average does exceed that of most of its neighbors. Down payments in Wyoming, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah and Oklahoma are only in the 11 percent range and among the lowest in the country, LendingTree reports.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or
