Saving for a down payment remains one of the biggest barriers to homeownership nationwide, but a new report from Realtor.com shows San Antonio area buyers face a far shorter wait than most Americans.
According to the real estate site’s 2025 analysis, the typical U.S. household needs seven years to save for a standard down payment, a notable improvement from the 12-year peak in 2022. Still, the timeline remains roughly double the pre-pandemic norm, reflecting higher home prices, larger down payments, and lower household savings rates.
San Antonio, however, stood out as the most accessible major metro in the nation. The San Antonio–New Braunfels metro boasted the shortest time to save for a down payment among the nation’s 50 largest markets, with households needing just 1.3 years to reach a typical down payment, according to the study.
The report found that San Antonio’s median down payment from January through November was $5,067. A median household income of $77,385 was estimated to produce an annual savings of $3,921. In addition to the relatively affordable down payments, military hubs like Alamo City also particularly benefit from Veterans Administration loan programs, which often allow buyers to purchase homes with little or no down payment, shifting savings needs toward closing costs instead of large upfront cash requirements.
Nationally, the time needed to save has shortened as home price growth cooled and affordability modestly improved. Still, saving for a down payment takes significantly longer than it did before the pandemic.
“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,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, in a release. “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.”
Lower savings rates have played a key role. The U.S. personal savings rate has averaged 5.1 percent of income so far in 2025, down from the pre-pandemic norm of 6.5 percent, limiting how quickly households can build funds for upfront housing costs. Meanwhile, the typical down payment has more than doubled over the past six years — rising from about $13,900 in the third quarter of 2019 to $30,400 in the third quarter of 2025.
In high-cost coastal metros, the impact is far more severe. Saving for a down payment can take 20 to more than 35 years in California cities like San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and San Diego, effectively sidelining many first-time and moderate-income buyers. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, the only other Texas urban area mentioned in the report, has a 3.5-year saving time for a median down payment of $14,927.
“In high-cost markets, the typical down payment alone exceeds a full year of household income,” said Hannah Jones, Realtor.com senior economic research analyst. “That reality makes homeownership feel unattainable for many buyers, particularly younger households trying to enter the market for the first time.”
Despite those challenges, the report notes that roughly three-quarters of Americans still consider homeownership part of the American dream. Realtor.com says easing rents could help first-time buyers save more, while repeat buyers may use accumulated savings to reduce loan balances and manage higher monthly payments.
“Saving consistently, even in small amounts, is a meaningful first step toward homeownership,” Jones said. “In today’s market, building that financial cushion can make a real difference when buyers are ready to act.”
