Mortgage by CountyWhat home buyers actually paid, county by county

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

Metro area · Alabama

Huntsville, AL metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 2-county Huntsville, AL area (OMB code 26620), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 7,715 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Huntsville, AL metro area. The median buyer borrowed $295,000 on a home valued at $335,000 and reported a household income of $105,000.

Buyers financed a median 95% of the home's value (roughly 5% down), paid a median 6.49% on 30-year fixed conventional loans and faced median conventional loan costs of $4,380.

Lenders denied 7.5% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans
7,715
2 counties
Buyer income
$105,000
U.S. $116,000
Loan amount
$295,000
U.S. $335,000
Down payment
5%
U.S. 10%
30-yr fixed rate
6.49%
U.S. 6.625%
Denial rate
7.5%
Purchase · U.S. 8.5%

Key facts

  • The median 30-year fixed conventional rate here was 13 basis points below the U.S. median (6.625%).
  • Median conventional loan costs ($4,380) were 21% lower than the U.S. median ($5,570).
  • VA loans were unusually common: 22.8% of purchase mortgages.
  • 29.7% of buyers put at least 20% down (financed 80% or less), compared with 38.5% nationally.
  • The most common age bracket among borrowers was 25–34 (34.1% of purchase loans).
  • 60.3% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
  • The most-cited reason for denial was debt-to-income ratio (35.7% of denials with a stated reason).

Counties in the metro area

CountyPurchase loansMedian loanBuyer income30-yr rateLoan costsConforming limitFHA limit
Madison County, AL5,618$295,000$108,0006.500%$4,390$832,750$541,287
Limestone County, AL2,097$295,000$99,0006.475%$4,350$832,750$541,287

Who bought homes in Huntsville

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

Purchase loans
7,715
of 8,537 applications
Buyer income
$105,000
Middle half $75,000–$155,000
Home value
$335,000
Middle half $275,000–$435,000
Loan amount
$295,000
Middle half $235,000–$385,000
Down payment
5%
29.7% put 20%+ down
Single borrower
60.3%
No co-applicant

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

Loan type

Conventional 49.0% 3,783
FHA 24.5% 1,887
VA 22.8% 1,761
USDA 3.7% 284

What the homes were for

Primary residence 96.0% 7,911
Second home 1.1% 87
Investment property 3.0% 246

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

Borrower age

Under 25 8.2%
25–34 34.1%
35–44 22.9%
45–54 15.4%
55–64 11.3%
65–74 6.0%
75 and over 2.0%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 5.3%
20–29% 18.0%
30–35% 17.7%
36–42% 24.5%
43–49% 23.6%
50–60% 10.3%
Over 60% 0.6%

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

What borrowing cost in Huntsville

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.

MeasureHuntsvilleU.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional6.490%6.625%
30-year fixed rate · FHA5.750%6.250%
30-year fixed rate · VA6.000%6.125%
15-year fixed rate · conventional5.750%5.875%
Rate spread vs. APOR · conventional+0.02 pts+0.13 pts
Total loan costs · conventional$4,380$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA$9,310$11,310
Total loan costs · VA$5,000$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)$1,650$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points56.9%51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)1.02%0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits30.7%33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages3.0%7.4%
Jumbo loans (above conforming limit)1.4%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

Huntsville: 640 of 8,537 completed home-purchase applications were denied (7.5%).

Denial rate

ApplicationHuntsvilleU.S.
Home purchase7.5%8.5%
Conventional5.2%7.1%
FHA11.8%12.5%
VA7.1%8.0%
USDA9.5%12.5%
Refinance15.8%17.9%
Cash-out refinance34.9%33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Debt-to-income ratio 35.7%
Credit history 22.9%
Credit application incomplete 10.6%
Other 8.9%
Collateral (appraisal/property) 7.6%
Unverifiable information 5.4%
Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 4.4%
Employment history 4.3%
Mortgage insurance denied 0.2%

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 Huntsville

Refinances
1,588
Median loan $335,000
Refi rate
6.49%
30-yr fixed, conv.
Refi loan costs
$4,570
Conventional
Cash-out refis
1,248
Median loan $245,000
Cash-out rate
6.875%
30-yr fixed, conv.
Cash-out income
$96,000
Median borrower

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