I’m not surprised at all with the down-payments. People are flexible and will come up with ways to buy if they want to qualify.

In other countries (such as Italy or Greece) where it’s common to pay cash for houses, people find ways to buy houses. But that doesn’t mean they saved up the whole amount and that they don’t owe money to someone.

Often times, debt owed to hard-money lenders who will beat you up if you don’t pay up, or to relatives is less risky that mortgage debt. The same is true for immigrant communities in America.