$10,000 CD vs. $10,000 High-Yield Savings Account: Which Earns More Toward Your Down Payment Right Now?

Saving for a down payment can delay homeownership for many first-time homebuyers.

According to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors®, the Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 11% of all buyers cited that saving for a down payment was the most difficult step in the homebuying process.

Investing your savings can help speed up the process to be sure, and while interest rates have fallen compared with this time last year, there is still some solid opportunities to build your savings.

As you work to calculate how much you’d need saved for a mortgage, here’s what you need to know about these common accounts as of now. 

Growing your down payment savings 

The time required for the average U.S. household to save for a typical down payment has significantly decreased. According to the most recent data collected by Realtor.com®, it took seven years in 2025 for homeowners to save for a down payment. 

This marks a dramatic improvement from the recent high of 12 years in 2022, which was driven by the simultaneous surge in home prices and down payments, and a sharp decline in savings rates.

But while we’re seeing an improvement, experts agree that there is still an uphill climb for many aspiring homeowners to get their down payment savings in good shape. 

In 2025, the U.S. personal savings rate averaged 5.1%. This figure is significantly lower than the average of 6.5% observed before the pandemic and is a sharp decline from the roughly 30% highs reached during the pandemic. This lower rate is a factor that constrains how quickly households can save enough cash to cover upfront housing expenses.

"Ultimately, setting a clear savings goal and consistently putting money aside is a meaningful first step toward homeownership, even in today’s challenging housing and economic environment," says Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones. 

Saving in a CD vs. high-yield savings account 

When saving for a down payment, two main choices offer significantly better returns than standard savings accounts: a HYSA and a CD. These options function quite differently, so your best choice hinges on your homebuying timeline and the amount of flexibility you require.

In the current 2026 market, top HYSAs are hovering around 4.20% to 5.00%, while 1-year CDs are seeing top rates around 4.10% to 4.16%.

Though offering similar returns, where you put your savings can produce vastly different outcomes, depending on your timeline. 

When it comes to HYSAs, your money remains accessible, though transfers to external banks may take one to three business days. However, rates do fluctuate with Federal Reserve decisions, which means what you earn today might change next month. That’s why watching what happens with the Fed chair is so important. 

On the other hand, CD rates tend to skew lower than those of HYSAs, but they are locked in for the term you select, whether that be three-month, nine-month, 12-month, or even longer. While locking in affords stability and reliability, rules around accessing the money are strict and come with a penalty for tapping into it before the lock-in time is up. 

High-yield savings account or CD: comparing $10,000 investments for down payment growth

Let’s say you’ve managed to save $10,000 for a down payment on a house, and you’re hoping to move to Cleveland. The median down payment in 2025 was $19,167, so your savings will need some help growing. 

At present, the “Big Three” American banks—JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo—still do not offer traditional high-yield savings accounts. To keep our figures in-house, we’ll look at Capital One, which remains a leader for both CDs and HYSAs.

As of April 2026, its 360 Performance Savings account offers a 3.20% APY, while its 12-month 360 CD offers a higher 3.90% APY fixed.

• If you put your money into the 12-month CD, you’d have an ending balance of $10,390.

• With the high-yield savings account, you’d end up with approximately $10,320.

While a $70 difference might not seem like much, remember that with the CD, you are essentially buying insurance against falling interest rates. That extra return is guaranteed for the year, while the HYSA rate is variable and could drop if the Fed decides to cut rates further this summer.

That said, if you’re actively house hunting and might need to tap into the money sooner than a year, you risk a penalty for early withdrawal.

For Capital One CD accounts with a term of 12 months or less, the penalty is three months of interest. If you were to close that 12-month CD early, you would pay a penalty of approximately $97.50—wiping out more than a full quarter of your earnings and leaving you with less than if you had stuck with the flexible savings account.