Down payments are at an all-time high - this is how much you need to buy a house

The average down payment for US homebuyers has reached a record high of $67,500, new data has revealed. 

Elevated mortgage rates mean homebuyers are incentivized to put down more money upfront to soften the blow. 

This, alongside rising house prices, means down payments over $400,000 are now the norm in some American cities.  

Down payments have also increased in percentage terms, the analysis from Redfin found. 

The typical homebuyer put down 18.6 percent of the purchase price of a home in June, which is the highest level in over a decade and up from 15 percent last year.

Californian cities top the list for where homebuyers are having to put down the most money upfront when buying a home. 

In San Jose, the typical down payment is $451,500, according to Redfin, and the average sum is $441,500 in San Francisco. 

In Anaheim, putting down $300,000 is the norm, while the median down payment in Oakland is $195,000. 

Other major cities where typical down payments are around the $200,000 mark are Seattle, where the average sum is $206,950, and New York City, where buyers are putting down $199,775, on average. 

In San Francisco, the median down payment was also equal to 25.8 percent of the purchase price - the highest among the metros analyzed by Redfin.

It was followed by San Jose, at 25.7 percent, and Anaheim at 25 percent. 

Down payment percentages are typically higher in San Francisco's Bay Area due to a higher-concentration of wealthy residents who can afford to put a higher percentage of the purchase price down. 

'San Jose has a lot of overseas investors buying sight-unseen, and a lot of home flippers who are purchasing dilapidated homes, putting some lipstick on them, and selling them for a profit,' Craig Pellegrini, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in San Jose, said in a report earlier this month. 

The nearly 15 percent jump in the median down payment across the US significantly outpaced the increase in home prices - which were up 4 percent in June year-over-year.

Down payments are surging because buyers are incentivized to put down more money upfront, and borrow less, when mortgage rates are higher, in order to try and minimize their monthly payments. 

Rising home prices also naturally lead to a higher down payment, which is a percentage of the home price. 

With home prices up, people who sell their previous property for more than they purchased it can also use the extra equity for a larger down payment on their new home.

'Investors are still coming in with all-cash offers on homes that need to be renovated. Traditional buyers are putting down large down payments to try and lower their mortgage payment,' said Annie Foushee, a Redfin agent in Denver. 

'These buyers will often utilize the help of family members to put down more than they could on their own.' 

There are still some major metro areas where down payments are far below the national average. 

In Virginia Beach, the average down payment in June was $9,195, with a 3 percent typical down payment percentage. 

Redfin noted that the area has a higher concentration of veterans using VA loans with little to no down payment, however.

Detroit has the second lowest average down payment of the major metros, at $16,000, while homebuyers typically put down $26,850 in Cleveland and $28,000 in Pittsburgh. 

It comes after Vice President Kamala Harris proposed that she would give $25,000 in assistance to first-time buyers if she wins the presidential election in November. 

The details of the plan are yet to be announced, as well as exactly who would qualify for the down payment assistance. 

But some economists have expressed concern that the benefit would lead to more competition for a limited housing supply, and therefore push up home prices further.