NJ leads the nation in highest mortgage down payments

A recent study from LendingTree.com found New Jersey leads the nation with the highest average down payment of 13.76 percent, while North Dakota has the lowest average at 11.37 pecent.

The other highest down payment locales included Washington D.C. at 13.54 percent, New York with 13.51 percent, Hawaii at 13.37 percent and California averaging 13.25 percent. The lowest averages were seen in Wyoming with at 11.42 percent, Oklahoma at 11.67 percent, and Utah and Tennessee both averaging 11.75 percent.

However, lawmakers are proposing a required 20 percent down payment for a lender to be able to securitize a loan from a government sponsored lender, CNBC reported.

"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.

Guy Cecala of Inside Mortgage Finance told the news source that 20 to 25 percent of mortgages across the country have down payments of 3.5 percent or less, and the rest require a 20 percent down payment or more. So while the average may seem low at 12 or 14 percent, many borrowers are likely not getting mortgages with these down payments.

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