Metro area · Wisconsin

Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 4-county Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI area (OMB code 33340), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 13,541 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI metro area. The median buyer borrowed $305,000 on a home valued at $365,000 and reported a household income of $111,000.

Buyers financed a median 87.2% of the home's value (roughly 12.8% down), paid a median 6.625% on 30-year fixed conventional loans and faced median conventional loan costs of $3,040.

Lenders denied 6.9% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans

13,541

4 counties

Buyer income

$111,000

U.S. $116,000

Loan amount

$305,000

U.S. $335,000

Down payment

12.8%

U.S. 10%

30-yr fixed rate

6.625%

U.S. 6.625%

Denial rate

6.9%

Purchase · U.S. 8.5%

Key facts

Median conventional loan costs ($3,040) were 45% lower than the U.S. median ($5,570).
FHA loans made up 8.5% of purchase mortgages, versus 21.1% nationally.
The most common age bracket among borrowers was 25–34 (37.4% of purchase loans).
49.2% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
The most-cited reason for denial was debt-to-income ratio (29.9% of denials with a stated reason).

Counties in the metro area

County	Purchase loans	Median loan	Buyer income	30-yr rate	Loan costs	Conforming limit	FHA limit
Milwaukee County, WI	6,952	$255,000	$91,000	6.625%	$3,010	$832,750	$541,287
Waukesha County, WI	4,218	$395,000	$146,000	6.625%	$3,070	$832,750	$541,287
Washington County, WI	1,468	$315,000	$113,000	6.625%	$3,010	$832,750	$541,287
Ozaukee County, WI	903	$375,000	$149,000	6.625%	$3,010	$832,750	$541,287

Who bought homes in Milwaukee

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

Purchase loans

13,541

of 14,950 applications

Buyer income

$111,000

Middle half $76,000–$170,000

Home value

$365,000

Middle half $265,000–$525,000

Loan amount

$305,000

Middle half $225,000–$415,000

Down payment

12.8%

43.8% put 20%+ down

Single borrower

49.2%

No co-applicant

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

Loan type

Conventional 86.6% 11,721

FHA 8.5% 1,154

VA 4.9% 662

USDA 0.0% 4

What the homes were for

Primary residence 95.6% 13,573

Second home 1.0% 136

Investment property 3.4% 483

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

Borrower age

Under 25 6.3%

25–34 37.4%

35–44 25.8%

45–54 14.6%

55–64 9.6%

65–74 5.2%

75 and over 1.2%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 4.4%

20–29% 16.9%

30–35% 17.6%

36–42% 27.5%

43–49% 28.6%

50–60% 4.6%

Over 60% 0.4%

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

What borrowing cost in Milwaukee

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.

Measure	Milwaukee	U.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional	6.625%	6.625%
30-year fixed rate · FHA	6.625%	6.250%
30-year fixed rate · VA	6.250%	6.125%
15-year fixed rate · conventional	5.875%	5.875%
Rate spread vs. APOR · conventional	+0.13 pts	+0.13 pts
Total loan costs · conventional	$3,040	$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA	$8,550	$11,310
Total loan costs · VA	$4,440	$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)	$1,270	$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points	32.2%	51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)	0.50%	0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits	42.4%	33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages	11.0%	7.4%
Jumbo loans (above conforming limit)	2.5%	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

Milwaukee: 1,031 of 14,950 completed home-purchase applications were denied (6.9%).

Denial rate

Application	Milwaukee	U.S.
Home purchase	6.9%	8.5%
Conventional	5.7%	7.1%
FHA	17.1%	12.5%
VA	7.9%	8.0%
USDA	—	12.5%
Refinance	12.8%	17.9%
Cash-out refinance	33.3%	33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Debt-to-income ratio 29.9%

Collateral (appraisal/property) 24.0%

Credit history 12.4%

Credit application incomplete 9.9%

Other 8.6%

Unverifiable information 6.4%

Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 5.4%

Employment history 3.3%

Mortgage insurance denied 0.1%

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 Milwaukee

Refinances

3,954

Median loan $315,000

Refi rate

6.375%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Refi loan costs

$2,420

Conventional

Cash-out refis

2,397

Median loan $215,000

Cash-out rate

6.875%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Cash-out income

$94,000

Median borrower

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