TL;DR: Nationally, first-time home buyers put down a median 10% and repeat buyers a median 23%, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, released November 4, 2025 and covering purchases from July 2024 through June 2025. NAR reports these figures nationally, and this review found no current Arkansas-only down payment statistic from a primary source. Applied to Northwest Arkansas's August 2026 county median sale prices, a 10% down payment comes to $36,300 in Benton County and $39,845 in Washington County. Arkansas's statewide ADFA Down Payment Assistance Program can supply up to $15,000 of that, but as a repayable 10-year second mortgage, not a grant.
What Is the Average Down Payment on a House in Arkansas?
The closest current, sourced answer is national. NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, released November 4, 2025, puts the median down payment at 19% for all buyers, 10% for first-time buyers and 23% for repeat buyers. NAR notes that 10% is the highest first-time buyer median since 1989, and 23% is the highest for repeat buyers since 2003. Two cautions apply before you treat those numbers as a plan. First, they are medians, the midpoint of what buyers put down, not an arithmetic average. Second, they describe buyers across the country, not Arkansas specifically. What you can do is apply NAR's percentages to local prices, which is what the rest of this article does.
What Would a Typical Down Payment Cost in Benton and Washington Counties?
Benton County's median sold price was $363,000 in August 2026, and Washington County's was $398,450 (NWA Look, sourced from ArkansasONE MLS, published September 10, 2026). At NAR's 10% first-time buyer median, that is 10% x $363,000 = $36,300 in Benton County and 10% x $398,450 = $39,845 in Washington County. At the 23% repeat-buyer median, it is 23% x $363,000 = $83,490 and 23% x $398,450 = $91,643.50. These dollar figures apply national percentages to county midpoints, so treat them as illustrations. Your own number depends on your price and loan program.
The year-over-year trend changes the math. Benton County's median fell about 7.7% from $393,337 in August 2025, so 10% of its median dropped from $39,333.70 to $36,300, about $3,034 less. Washington County's median rose about 9.6% from $363,455, so the same 10% rose from $36,345.50 to $39,845, about $3,500 more. If you are comparing homes in Bentonville and Fayetteville, the two counties have swapped places. A year ago, Washington County's median-priced home took the smaller 10% down payment. Now Benton County's does. If you are relocating to Northwest Arkansas and building a savings target from scratch, start from the dollar figures for the county you expect to buy in.
How Much of That Can ADFA Down Payment Assistance Cover?
The Arkansas Development Finance Authority's Down Payment Assistance Program is a statewide program, not a Northwest Arkansas one. ADFA's program page lists assistance of $1,000 to $15,000 for down payment and closing costs. It is structured as a second mortgage with a 10-year term, for qualifying borrowers using an ADFA StartSmart or ADFA Move-Up first mortgage. ADFA's program guidelines, revised March 11, 2025, call it a repayable second mortgage with a 10-year amortization term and an interest rate that matches the ADFA first mortgage rate. The same guidelines say borrowers must meet ADFA first mortgage income limits, and the DPA payment counts toward a 45% maximum debt-to-income ratio. In other words, the assistance lowers the cash you bring to closing but adds a second monthly loan payment.
At the $15,000 maximum, the assistance could offset $15,000 / $363,000 = 4.13% of Benton County's median price and $15,000 / $398,450 = 3.76% of Washington County's. Those shares are the part of the price the assistance could cover, not a down payment target. Against the 10% first-time buyer median, the maximum would leave $36,300 - $15,000 = $21,300 to fund from other sources in Benton County and $39,845 - $15,000 = $24,845 in Washington County. A participating ADFA lender can confirm where you would fall in the $1,000 to $15,000 range.
How Do FHA and Conforming Loan Limits Fit In?
Loan limits cap the loan amount, not the purchase price. HUD's 2026 FHA limit for a one-unit property in Benton and Washington counties is $541,287, effective for FHA case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2026. FHFA's 2026 conforming loan limit for a one-unit property is $832,750, and it applies statewide because Arkansas has no FHFA-designated high-cost areas. That gives a conforming loan $832,750 - $541,287 = $291,463 more room than an FHA loan. With 10% down on each county median, the loan would be $363,000 - $36,300 = $326,700 in Benton County and $398,450 - $39,845 = $358,605 in Washington County, well under both limits. On a higher-priced home, a larger down payment shrinks the loan, and the loan is what counts against the FHA limit. For payment planning, Freddie Mac's 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.76% for the week of September 10, 2026, compared with 6.71% the week before.
What Should You Do With These Numbers?
- Pick the percentage that fits your situation, either NAR's 10% first-time buyer median or its 23% repeat-buyer median (2025 Profile). Then convert it to dollars on the price you are actually shopping, not only the county median.
- If you are counting on assistance, ask a participating ADFA lender whether a StartSmart or Move-Up first mortgage fits your income and price, and how the DPA payment affects ADFA's 45% debt-to-income maximum.
- Plan how you will fund the rest. On a median-priced home at 10% down, that is the $21,300 (Benton County) or $24,845 (Washington County) calculated above, even with the full ADFA amount.
- Ask your lender to quote the monthly payment at the current rate (6.76%, Freddie Mac, week of September 10, 2026) for 10% down and for 23% down, so you can see what the larger down payment saves each month.
- If you are a repeat buyer, estimate your net sale proceeds first. NAR's 2025 Profile reports that 54% of repeat buyers used proceeds from a previous home to fund their next purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is NAR's median down payment the same as an Arkansas average?
No. NAR's figure is a national median from a survey of buyers who bought between July 2024 and June 2025. It describes the midpoint of what buyers put down nationwide, not an Arkansas average. NAR also notes that mortgage interest rates averaged 6.69% during that data collection period.
Do I have to repay ADFA down payment assistance?
Yes. ADFA's program guidelines, revised March 11, 2025, describe it as a subordinate repayable mortgage. The same guidelines say there is no penalty for paying it off early, a 4% late payment fee applies, the funds cannot be used for repairs or to pay off debt in order to qualify, and the home must be your primary residence.
Where do first-time buyers get their down payment money?
According to NAR's 2025 Profile, 59% of first-time buyers used personal savings, 26% tapped financial assets such as 401(k)s, IRAs or stocks, and 22% received a gift or loan from relatives or friends. The shares add up to more than 100%, which means some buyers used more than one source.
If you want the NAR percentages, ADFA terms, current loan limits and county price data run against the specific price range and loan program you are considering, Mason Capital Group can put together a worksheet showing how much cash you would need at closing under an ADFA-assisted purchase in Benton County or Washington County. Call 479-925-3333 to start that conversation.
About the author: Cameron Torabi, Principal Broker — Mason Capital Group. 30+ years of Northwest Arkansas real estate expertise; $2.4B+ in cumulative transaction activity.
Figures in this article are drawn from the National Association of REALTORS® 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (released November 4, 2025; purchases from July 2024 through June 2025); NWA Look, sourced from ArkansasONE MLS (August 2026 data, published September 10, 2026); the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2026 FHA limits, effective January 1, 2026); the Federal Housing Finance Agency (2026 conforming loan limits, announced November 25, 2025); Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey (week of September 10, 2026); and the Arkansas Development Finance Authority's Down Payment Assistance Program page (accessed September 15, 2026) and program guidelines (revised March 11, 2025).