Tampa's house down payment downtrend

• The area was also one of the biggest declining markets of homes purchased in all cash. More than 38% of homes were purchased using all cash in January — a 4.5 percentage point drop from 2022.

The big picture: The typical U.S. homebuyer's down payment fell 10% year over year in January to $42,375, its lowest number in almost two years, Axios' Emily Peck reports.

• The median down payment is now 10% of the purchase price of the house, off its peak of 17.5%, which amounted to $65,000, in May 2022.

Flashback: The last time down-payment percentages were this low was early 2021, before the pandemic homebuying boom sparked bidding wars.

State of play: High mortgage rates crushed the market and drove a lot of people away, so buyers no longer need to distinguish themselves from other bidders with big deposits.

• 559 homes have sold in Tampa this year, down nearly 20% from last year, according to Redfin.

Yes, but: Homes are still expensive. In February, Tampa home prices were up 4.2% compared to last year, according to Redfin. Prices are up nearly 14% compared to last year in St. Petersburg and Sarasota.

• Add higher mortgage rates to that equation and you get buyers facing higher monthly payments, who are more constrained in what they can afford to put down.

What they're saying: Tampa real estate agent Asad Shaikh tells Axios that putting down a bigger down payment isn't as smart as people think.

• He advises clients to use extra funds to bridge the gap between the contract price and appraisal and save their cash.
• "You're tying up all that liquidity that can be a rainy day fund or backup cash if you lose your job," Shaikh said.