Zillow Group is offering mortgages with a 1% down payment as it tries to attract house hunters facing the most-unaffordable market in almost four decades.
The 1% down payment program is even lower than Freddie Mac’s best of 3%, with Seattle-based Zillow offering to pay 2% of the down payment at closing, according to a statement Thursday.
It comes after mortgage rates in the U.S. hit a 22-year high Thursday. The average for a 30-year, fixed loan was 7.23%, the highest since May 2001 and up from 7.09% last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday.
Zillow is debuting the new program in Arizona before expanding to other markets. The company shuttered a similarly ambitious foray into home flipping in 2021 after steep losses.
