Saving up to buy a first home in New York City is starting to look less like a financial goal and more like a lifelong project. A new analysis from Rocket Mortgage finds that, at current incomes and savings rates, a typical household in the city would need roughly 65 years to save the median first-time home down payment. That number, about $265,000 under Rocket’s assumptions, puts the Big Apple far ahead of much of the country, while some Midwestern metros can hit the same target in only a few years. For New Yorkers juggling rent, transit and every other local cost, the figure bluntly shows how local rules and sky-high prices can shove homeownership out of reach.
The finding comes from a Rocket Companies analysis released Tuesday that ranks 49 U.S. metros by how long it would take a typical first-time buyer to save the median down payment observed in Rocket Mortgage originations. Rocket says it calculated years to save by dividing each market’s median first-time buyer down payment by 5% of median household income, and it used the 2024 American Community Survey for incomes. According to Rocket Companies, New York City tops the list with an estimated 65.2-year timeline and a median first-time down payment of about $265,000.
“It’s never too early to understand what buyers are putting down in your market and start building a plan,” Bill Banfield, Rocket’s chief business officer, said in the release. The company notes that buyers in expensive coastal metros often make much larger down payments, and Rocket’s table shows first-time down payments near 30% of purchase price in New York City, largely because bigger up-front cash reduces monthly payments and helps clear debt-to-income hurdles. Those mechanics help explain why the same calculation produces multi-decade timelines in places with tight inventory and high price points, according to Rocket Companies.
The report landed as new single-family home sales softened across the country. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that sales of newly built single-family houses dropped 7.3% in May from April, a pullback that adds pressure on buyers already grappling with higher borrowing costs and sticky inflation. The Census/HUD new residential sales release shows inventories edging up even as many buyers struggle with monthly payments, a dynamic that can push sellers and lenders to expect larger down payments in some markets.
Where Saving Actually Takes Only Years
Not every metro looks like New York. Rocket’s analysis puts Warren, Michigan, and Detroit among the fastest places to accumulate a first-time down payment, roughly three to four years at the 5% savings assumption, because median down payments there are much smaller in dollar terms. Industry coverage from National Mortgage Professional and other outlets summarized Rocket’s metro table, which also lists Virginia Beach and Fort Worth among faster-save markets.
Help For New Yorkers
There are local tools that can shorten the timeline for some buyers. The city’s HomeFirst down payment assistance can provide up to $100,000 in forgivable aid to qualifying first-time buyers, according to the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development. Hoodline previously ran a neighborhood-by-neighborhood look at how long it takes to save in the five boroughs (20-year scramble), showing that assistance and local price variation can materially shorten timelines in some parts of the city. Still, for buyers without family help or large subsidies, the math remains daunting.
Rocket’s metro table is a straightforward measure with clear limits. It assumes a steady 5% annual savings rate and does not capture gifts, investment returns or creative financing. Even with those caveats, the city’s roughly 65-year result is a stark warning about the growing gap between median prices and median incomes. For many New Yorkers, buying a first home without outside help looks less like a near-term goal and more like a generational project unless prices, incomes or assistance change materially.
