30 Percent Down Payment: The New Normal?

I've always been fond of news stories that are neither new nor particularly unknown, like when some local TV station runs a human-interest story on some local teen who organized a charity drive three months ago. They're cute!

And they're no less cute when the Wall Street Journal runs such stories, as it did recently, reporting that banks are requiring larger down payments to buy a home, as much as 30 percent of the purchase price.