What’s a down payment?

(Updated 2019)
A down payment is the amount of money a home buyer must come up with out of his or her own pocket before qualifying for a mortgage. It represents a fraction of the total cost of a home. In the past, down payments were generally 20 percent of a home’s purchase price. But, in line with the trend to make home buying accessible to more people, that number has shrunk. Today, a down payment can be as low as five percent of the purchase price.
 
Learn more about down payment, credit and other mortgage qualifying requirements here: Can You Get a Mortgage?