How Long Does it Take to Save for a House?

It can take a long time to save for a house — but the good news is, most people don’t cough up the sale price outright. Homebuyers typically pay a percentage — usually around 5% — of the overall cost in cash and finance the remainder with a mortgage. 

In 2025, the typical homebuyer put $30,400 down and spent seven years saving for a down payment, according to Realtor.com data published in December. 

That’s a higher amount than what people paid before the pandemic — rising inflation and a higher cost of living have made it more difficult for the everyday American to save, per Realtor.com. However, homebuyers are seeing some hope: the time it took to save for a down payment dropped from 12 years in 2022, its high point.

Below, CNBC Select outlines ways to reduce the time it takes to save.

Choose a low-down-payment mortgage 

While most lenders require a down payment of at least 5%, there are options that allow you to put down less, including low-down-payment government-backed and private home loans. 

For example, Federal Housing Administration-backed FHA loans require a 3.5% down payment. While that might not sound like a big difference, that could mean you’d need to save $14,000 for a down payment on a $400,000 house — about the median cost of a house — instead of the $20,000 that would be necessary with a mortgage that required a 5% down payment. 

If you’re interested in this type of loan, we recommend Rocket Mortgage. It’s one of the largest FHA loan lenders and has a stellar record for customer service. It consistently is among the top lenders ranked on the J.D. Power’s customer satisfaction surveys and it has an A+ from the Better Business Bureau. 

While not as widely available, there are also Department of Veterans Affairs-backed VA loans and United States Department of Agriculture-backed loans that require no down payment. To qualify for a VA loan, you must be a veteran or active servicemember, and to qualify for a USDA loan, you must be purchasing specific homes in select rural and suburban zip codes. 

If you’ve served in the military, we suggest you start with Veterans United. Not only does it have a great customer service record, it also focuses solely on home loans for veterans and active servicemembers and has a sister foundation that works with charities working to make military families’ lives better around the country. 

If you think you may qualify for a USDA loan, check out PNC Bank. It’s one of our top lenders for USDA loans and has 2,000 branches across 28 states, allowing many to visit in person to discuss their options. 

If you don’t want to go with a government-backed loan, many private mortgage companies offer a low-down-payment loan for certain borrowers. 

For example, Chase Bank offers the DreaMaker mortgage, which lets qualifying homebuyers put 3% down. You must make 80% area median income or lower, or live in 15 select metro areas to qualify. 

Save using a high-yield savings account

If you want to achieve your savings goal faster, don’t keep your down payment fund in a traditional savings account —these accounts only offer a 0.04% return each year. 

With a high-yield savings account, you can earn up to 4.0% as of June. 

At Select, we like EverBank Performance Savings because it provides a high APY without a minimum balance, direct deposit or monthly fees. You’ll also get a free ATM card and no ATM fees. 

Stick to a strict budget with a money management app

Finally, one key way to speed up your savings timeline is to cut out unnecessary expenses, maintain consistency and put the extra money into your down payment fund. 

While you could do this with a pen or spreadsheet, there are apps that can help you. 

We love Rocket Money because you can link all your accounts. Plus, Rocket details recurring expenses and earnings on a calendar, so you can see your spending and savings patterns over the course of a month and plan accordingly.

Why trust CNBC Select?

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed financial decisions. Every mortgage article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of the products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.