Now may be the time to dump your mortgage insurance
Gary Sandler | Real estate connection According to the National Association of Realtors 2020 report on Down Payment Expectations and Homeownership Barriers, the median down payment in 2019 was 12 percent for all buyers, 6 percent for first-time buyers, and 16 percent for repeat buyers. The median is half above this percentage and half below this percentage. NAR also found that "over 70% of cashless first-time home buyers - and 54% of all buyers - have made down payments of less than 20% in the past five years". Twenty percent, or 20 percent equity in a property, is a benchmark that is often quoted by lenders and mortgage experts because from that point on mortgages must be insured against losses due to borrower defaults. While the borrowers are paying the mortgage insurance premiums, the lender is protected by the insurance. A good rule of thumb is that the lower the percentage of the deposit, the higher the premium. The premiums are usually between 0.5 and 1.5 perce...