Mortgage by CountyWhat home buyers actually paid, county by county

Independent analysis of official mortgage recordsHMDA 2025 · 7,155,718 applications

Metro area · Maryland

Frederick-Gaithersburg-Bethesda, MD metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 2-county Frederick-Gaithersburg-Bethesda, MD area (OMB code 23224), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 11,037 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Frederick-Gaithersburg-Bethesda, MD metro area. The median buyer borrowed $495,000 on a home valued at $605,000 and reported a household income of $159,000.

Buyers financed a median 85% of the home's value (roughly 15% down), paid a median 6.575% on 30-year fixed conventional loans and faced median conventional loan costs of $6,210.

Lenders denied 7.1% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans
11,037
2 counties
Buyer income
$159,000
U.S. $116,000
Loan amount
$495,000
U.S. $335,000
Down payment
15%
U.S. 10%
30-yr fixed rate
6.575%
U.S. 6.625%
Denial rate
7.1%
Purchase · U.S. 8.5%

Key facts

  • Home buyers' median income ($159,000) is 37% higher than the U.S. median ($116,000).
  • The median 30-year fixed conventional rate here was 5 basis points below the U.S. median (6.625%).
  • Median conventional loan costs ($6,210) were 11% higher than the U.S. median ($5,570).
  • FHA loans made up 11.0% of purchase mortgages, versus 21.1% nationally.
  • 48.0% of buyers put at least 20% down (financed 80% or less), compared with 38.5% nationally.
  • The most common age bracket among borrowers was 35–44 (33.3% of purchase loans).
  • 48.0% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
  • The most-cited reason for denial was debt-to-income ratio (40.4% of denials with a stated reason).

Counties in the metro area

CountyPurchase loansMedian loanBuyer income30-yr rateLoan costsConforming limitFHA limit
Montgomery County, MD7,798$525,000$167,0006.500%$6,290$1,249,125$1,249,125
Frederick County, MD3,239$435,000$144,0006.625%$5,970$1,249,125$1,249,125

Who bought homes in Frederick

Home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family (1–4 unit) site-built homes, first liens, originated in 2025.

Purchase loans
11,037
of 12,135 applications
Buyer income
$159,000
Middle half $110,000–$245,000
Home value
$605,000
Middle half $435,000–$845,000
Loan amount
$495,000
Middle half $355,000–$675,000
Down payment
15%
48.0% put 20%+ down
Single borrower
48.0%
No co-applicant

Values are medians; "middle half" is the 25th to 75th percentile.

Loan type

Conventional 80.4% 8,872
FHA 11.0% 1,215
VA 8.4% 927
USDA 0.2% 23

What the homes were for

Primary residence 97.0% 11,044
Second home 0.7% 77
Investment property 2.3% 260

All first-lien, closed-end purchase mortgages, including second homes and investors.

Borrower age

Under 25 2.5%
25–34 29.5%
35–44 33.3%
45–54 18.6%
55–64 10.0%
65–74 4.6%
75 and over 1.5%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 3.4%
20–29% 13.9%
30–35% 15.6%
36–42% 26.3%
43–49% 33.8%
50–60% 6.4%
Over 60% 0.5%

Monthly debts (including the new payment) as a share of income, as used in underwriting.

What borrowing cost in Frederick

Medians for 2025 home-purchase loans. Total loan costs are section D of the Loan Estimate/Closing Disclosure (lender and third-party loan charges, excluding taxes, prepaids and escrow). FHA and VA costs include the upfront mortgage insurance premium or VA funding fee, so compare like with like.

MeasureFrederickU.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional6.575%6.625%
30-year fixed rate · FHA6.375%6.250%
30-year fixed rate · VA6.125%6.125%
15-year fixed rate · conventional5.750%5.875%
Rate spread vs. APOR · conventional+0.06 pts+0.13 pts
Total loan costs · conventional$6,210$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA$14,770$11,310
Total loan costs · VA$10,300$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)$1,890$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points43.8%51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)0.75%0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits35.8%33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages10.8%7.4%
Jumbo loans (above conforming limit)5.1%3.8%

Medians are shown only when at least 30 loans report the field. Rates are those reported at closing; market rates changed during 2025, which the rate spread (APR minus the average prime offer rate on the lock date) adjusts for.

Approvals and denials

Frederick: 857 of 12,135 completed home-purchase applications were denied (7.1%).

Denial rate

ApplicationFrederickU.S.
Home purchase7.1%8.5%
Conventional6.0%7.1%
FHA14.3%12.5%
VA7.0%8.0%
USDA—12.5%
Refinance14.4%17.9%
Cash-out refinance32.4%33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Debt-to-income ratio 40.4%
Collateral (appraisal/property) 16.3%
Other 10.2%
Credit history 8.4%
Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 8.3%
Credit application incomplete 8.2%
Unverifiable information 6.0%
Employment history 2.3%

First reason the lender reported.

Denial rate = denied ÷ (originated + approved but not accepted + denied). Withdrawn and incomplete applications are excluded. Differences between places reflect who applies, not only lender behavior.

Refinancing in Frederick

Refinances
2,765
Median loan $545,000
Refi rate
6.125%
30-yr fixed, conv.
Refi loan costs
$4,510
Conventional
Cash-out refis
1,316
Median loan $385,000
Cash-out rate
6.875%
30-yr fixed, conv.
Cash-out income
$135,000
Median borrower

Source: FFIEC/CFPB HMDA 2025 public LAR (derived MSA/MD); OMB July 2023 delineations via the U.S. Census Bureau. Methodology