16.6% of home purchase mortgages made in 2025 covered more than 97% of the home’s value, counting any second loan taken out at the same time, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s National Mortgage Database. Put another way, those buyers put down less than 3%. The share was 16.2% in 2024 and 18.1% in 2019.
Another 9.9% of loans had a combined loan-to-value ratio between 95% and 97%, so about 26% of buyers with a mortgage put down 5% or less. At the other end, 21.8% borrowed 70% or less of the value, up from 16.6% in 2019. The average ratio was 81.2%.
The share of loans above 97% was highest in Mississippi (28.8%), Wyoming (28.6%) and Alaska (26.3%), and lowest in New York (7.1%). Most of these loans are government-backed. 50.4% of FHA, VA, USDA and other government loans were above 97%, against 2.4% of conventional loans, so by our calculation from FHFA’s counts about 90% of loans above 97% were government-backed. VA and USDA loans can cover the full price, and FHA loans allow 3.5% down with the upfront insurance premium added to the loan.
By state
| State | CLTV above 97%, 2025 | CLTV above 97%, 2019 | CLTV 95.1% to 97% | CLTV 70% or less | Average CLTV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 28.8% | 28.0% | 12.3% | 14.7% | 86.2% |
| Wyoming | 28.6% | 28.8% | 7.5% | 22.1% | 81.9% |
| Alaska | 26.3% | 32.1% | 8.3% | 18.5% | 83.2% |
| Alabama | 26.1% | 26.0% | 12.1% | 17.5% | 84.3% |
| Louisiana | 24.8% | 24.8% | 14.0% | 16.4% | 84.9% |
| Arkansas | 24.3% | 24.1% | 11.1% | 20.0% | 83.1% |
| Oklahoma | 23.7% | 23.8% | 11.9% | 19.2% | 83.5% |
| Arizona | 22.3% | 18.4% | 10.6% | 19.8% | 82.5% |
| West Virginia | 22.3% | 22.2% | 14.3% | 18.8% | 83.7% |
| Nevada | 22.2% | 22.3% | 8.4% | 20.6% | 82.2% |
| South Carolina | 22.2% | 21.2% | 10.1% | 20.9% | 82.0% |
| Virginia | 21.8% | 25.8% | 8.7% | 21.1% | 82.2% |
| Georgia | 21.5% | 23.3% | 12.8% | 18.2% | 83.7% |
| Idaho | 20.9% | 21.4% | 6.9% | 24.9% | 80.1% |
| Texas | 20.9% | 20.8% | 13.3% | 16.6% | 84.5% |
| New Mexico | 20.4% | 24.8% | 10.5% | 23.0% | 80.1% |
| Colorado | 19.7% | 20.3% | 8.0% | 20.7% | 81.9% |
| Kentucky | 19.6% | 21.5% | 10.8% | 23.1% | 79.9% |
| Nebraska | 19.3% | 16.8% | 7.5% | 21.6% | 81.2% |
| Hawaii | 19.0% | 18.7% | 7.0% | 33.3% | 77.3% |
| North Dakota | 18.9% | 22.2% | 11.0% | 15.8% | 84.0% |
| North Carolina | 18.7% | 20.2% | 8.8% | 21.9% | 81.3% |
| Florida | 18.0% | 19.2% | 10.6% | 22.1% | 81.1% |
| Utah | 18.0% | 19.6% | 9.5% | 21.1% | 82.1% |
| Missouri | 17.2% | 18.2% | 12.1% | 18.5% | 83.2% |
| Indiana | 17.1% | 18.5% | 12.0% | 16.7% | 83.5% |
| Tennessee | 17.0% | 21.0% | 9.5% | 23.6% | 80.1% |
| Maryland | 16.8% | 20.6% | 12.8% | 18.3% | 82.8% |
| Montana | 16.8% | 14.9% | 5.7% | 30.8% | 76.2% |
| Kansas | 16.1% | 17.1% | 11.8% | 18.7% | 82.8% |
| Ohio | 14.5% | 15.8% | 12.1% | 18.6% | 82.5% |
| Rhode Island | 13.8% | 17.6% | 9.4% | 22.4% | 80.4% |
| Washington | 13.5% | 17.1% | 7.4% | 25.9% | 78.9% |
| Oregon | 13.3% | 14.2% | 7.6% | 23.9% | 79.1% |
| Delaware | 13.2% | 20.4% | 8.9% | 26.2% | 79.1% |
| Iowa | 12.9% | 18.2% | 10.6% | 22.4% | 80.4% |
| California | 12.7% | 13.9% | 6.9% | 29.6% | 77.3% |
| Pennsylvania | 12.1% | 16.3% | 10.1% | 21.4% | 80.5% |
| Michigan | 11.9% | 14.8% | 11.8% | 20.4% | 81.3% |
| South Dakota | 11.9% | 23.4% | 12.3% | 26.7% | 79.3% |
| Illinois | 11.7% | 13.5% | 9.1% | 19.0% | 81.7% |
| Maine | 11.7% | 16.4% | 10.0% | 28.0% | 77.5% |
| Minnesota | 10.6% | 14.4% | 9.7% | 20.3% | 81.1% |
| Wisconsin | 9.1% | 9.7% | 7.8% | 26.2% | 77.6% |
| Connecticut | 8.8% | 16.5% | 5.2% | 26.1% | 78.3% |
| New Hampshire | 8.5% | 13.7% | 6.1% | 29.3% | 77.0% |
| Massachusetts | 8.3% | 8.9% | 5.7% | 28.4% | 77.2% |
| District of Columbia | 8.0% | 5.9% | 3.8% | 26.9% | 76.7% |
| New Jersey | 8.0% | 11.8% | 6.0% | 28.0% | 76.9% |
| Vermont | 7.3% | 12.5% | 5.8% | 27.7% | 77.3% |
| New York | 7.1% | 10.1% | 5.8% | 29.1% | 76.3% |
50 states and D.C., sorted by the 2025 share above 97%. CLTV is the combined loan-to-value ratio: the first mortgage plus any second lien taken out at the same time, divided by the purchase price or appraised value.
What these numbers are
The National Mortgage Database is a 1-in-20 sample of closed-end first-lien mortgages drawn from Experian credit files and linked to other records. FHFA publishes the figures already rounded and weighted to represent all such mortgages. These are home purchase loans only, not refinances.
A low down payment usually means mortgage insurance or a government guarantee, a larger loan and less equity to absorb a fall in prices. It does not by itself mean a risky loan; the borrower’s credit and income matter too.
Source
Federal Housing Finance Agency, National Mortgage Database (NMDB®) aggregate statistics, new mortgage statistics, annual, states and national, market "All Mortgages (Home Purchase)" (series TOT_ORIG, PCT_CLTV_GT97, PCT_CLTV_9597, PCT_CLTV_LE70 and AVE_CLTV), downloaded October 28, 2026. Credit: FHFA, National Mortgage Database (NMDB®). U.S. government data in the public domain. Our table is available under CC BY 4.0. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "Low Down Payment Mortgages by State," My Credit Guide, October 28, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/low-down-payment-mortgages-by-state/.