It’s one of the highest hurdles for homeownership in the region, if not the highest: the downpayment. Twenty percent of the price is the general rule of thumb in the Boston region, so in Boston proper a downpayment can cost well more than $100,000.
What about in cities nearby?
Real estate research site NeighborhoodX broke down the average listing price of market-rate houses currently for sale in Arlington, Belmont, Malden, Medford, and Watertown. From that data, we can extrapolate what a downpayment costs in each.
First, the average listing prices for houses (not condos):
Arlington: $669,000
Belmont: $1,142,000
Malden: $479,000
Medford: $539,000
Watertown: $629,000
And now the downpayments:
Arlington: $133,800
Belmont: $228,400
Malden: $95,800
Medford: $107,800
Watertown: $125,800
Below are handy interactive charts of the 10 least expensive market-rate houses for sale in each city—to show you all is not lost necessarily.