How much money is needed to pay the down payment on a house?

In Spain, you need to have 45,423 euros to pay the down payment on your first home, while five years ago it was less than 40,000 euros. The initial budget destined for the purchase of a second-hand house has increased by 17% compared to 5 years ago and 1% compared to 2020. This follows from the study Budget for the entry of a home in Spain, based on the house prices for sale in the Fotocasa Real Estate Index for the last 5 years.

The Spaniard must have an average savings of 30% of the value of the home to be able to acquire it (20% not financed by the bank and 10% of the ITP and expenses), because banks do not usually grant mortgage loans greater than 80% of the appraised value or the price of the house. Five years ago, citizens had to pay an average of 129,617 euros for the purchase of a second-hand home of 80 m2, compared to the 151,411 euros paid, on average, in Spain in May 2021.

The people of Madrid, the greatest savings

In four autonomous communities a budget higher than the Spanish average is needed. The people of Madrid are the ones who pay the most in Spain for the square meter of a home, 3,099 euros. In this way, to buy a first second-hand home of 80 square meters (247,958 euros) you must have savings of 74,387 euros, that is, on average 30% of the value of the home to obtain a mortgage with the bank . This budget has increased by 39% compared to five years ago.

In the Balearic Islands and the Basque Country, a budget of more than 68,000 euros is needed to pay the down payment on a home, while in Catalonia this amount amounts to 60,638 euros.

On the other hand, the community with the cheapest housing price is Castilla-La Mancha. Thus, savings of 26,849 euros must be available for a house of 80 square meters valued at 89,497 euros. Barely 15,110 euros (20%) more than what is paid for the entry of a home in Madrid

More than 100,000 euros in San Sebastian

As for the provincial capitals, the residents of the cities of San Sebastian and Barcelona spend more than 100,000 euros on the entry of the purchase of a first home of 80 square meters. Specifically, for the purchase of a home in San Sebastián, savings of 132,521 euros must be available, while for the city of Barcelona it is 104,853 euros.

On the other hand, residents of the cities of Ávila (28,485), Lérida (30,051), Ciudad Real (30,867) and Huelva (30,762 euros) require less than 30,000 euros saved to purchase a second-hand home.