NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - More than four out of ten first-time home buyers opted for no-money-down loans last year, a move that could prove disastrous for those buyers if the housing market cools, according to a report published Wednesday.

Citing a report by the National Association of Realtors, USA Today said that 43 percent of first-time buyers put no money down last year.

The median new buyer only put 2 percent down on a $150,000 home in 2005, the report said. Half of all new buyers put down more than the median and half less.

The possibility of a cooling housing market coupled with rising rates on adjustable-rate loans could leave many of the new home owners owing more than their homes are worth, the newspaper said.

PMI Mortgage Insurance, which rates risk in different housing markets, told the paper that there is a 50 percent chance that home prices, particularly on the coasts, will decline in the next two years.

Economists have expressed concern about many of these no-down payment loans as well as other creative but high-risk mortgages, which have helped many Americans afford homes, according to the paper.

While the 30-year fixed rate mortgage still remains the most popular option with home buyers, the Mortgage Bankers Association told the paper that roughly one-third of homeowners take out these higher risk loans, which include no money down, interest only or minimum payment mortgages.

Thomas Stevens, the president of the National Association of Realtors, told USA Today that he was watching the percentage of homeowners opting for no-down payment loans.

"If the number was higher than that, I'd be concerned," he told the paper.

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