State Home Buyers Taking Out Smaller Mortgages Than in ’92

California home buyers are taking out slightly smaller mortgages to purchase homes than they did a year ago, according to a real estate information company.

Last month 26,832 buyers borrowed an average of $164,333 each to purchase a home. That was 1.6% below the July, 1992, average of $167,023, according to Dataquick Information Systems.

Southern California, the region hardest hit by the slowdown in real estate activity, saw a 3.3% drop in mortgage sizes. The Bay Area and coastal counties actually saw increases in mortgage sizes. Marin remains the county with the highest home financing cost; mortgages there are $269,642 on average. Marin is followed by San Mateo with $238,616 and San Francisco with $234,785, Dataquick reported.

The average mortgage payment on a home bought last month is $1,104.65, assuming a 30-year fixed-rate loan at last month’s average of 7.1%. A year ago, the average mortgage payment was $1,232.19 (average mortgage $167,023 at 8.06%) and two years ago it was $1,482.89, (average mortgage $173,890 at 9.66%).