Metro area · Ohio

Cleveland, OH metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 6-county Cleveland, OH area (OMB code 17410), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 19,771 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Cleveland, OH metro area. The median buyer borrowed $235,000 on a home valued at $285,000 and reported a household income of $95,000.

Buyers financed a median 90% of the home's value (roughly 10% down), paid a median 6.625% on 30-year fixed conventional loans and faced median conventional loan costs of $4,990.

Lenders denied 7.5% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans

19,771

6 counties

Buyer income

$95,000

U.S. $116,000

Loan amount

$235,000

U.S. $335,000

Down payment

10%

U.S. 10%

30-yr fixed rate

6.625%

U.S. 6.625%

Denial rate

7.5%

Purchase · U.S. 8.5%

Key facts

Home buyers' median income ($95,000) is 18% lower than the U.S. median ($116,000).
Median conventional loan costs ($4,990) were 10% lower than the U.S. median ($5,570).
The most common age bracket among borrowers was 25–34 (37.0% of purchase loans).
60.4% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
The most-cited reason for denial was debt-to-income ratio (35.6% 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
Cuyahoga County, OH	9,904	$225,000	$92,000	6.625%	$4,980	$832,750	$541,287
Lorain County, OH	3,706	$245,000	$98,000	6.625%	$4,770	$832,750	$541,287
Lake County, OH	2,639	$215,000	$89,000	6.625%	$4,940	$832,750	$541,287
Medina County, OH	1,976	$295,000	$113,000	6.625%	$5,190	$832,750	$541,287
Geauga County, OH	823	$315,000	$126,000	6.625%	$5,510	$832,750	$541,287
Ashtabula County, OH	723	$175,000	$75,000	6.750%	$4,970	$832,750	$541,287

Who bought homes in Cleveland

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

Purchase loans

19,771

of 21,736 applications

Buyer income

$95,000

Middle half $66,000–$148,000

Home value

$285,000

Middle half $195,000–$405,000

Loan amount

$235,000

Middle half $165,000–$335,000

Down payment

10%

36.5% put 20%+ down

Single borrower

60.4%

No co-applicant

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

Loan type

Conventional 75.3% 14,895

FHA 17.5% 3,463

VA 6.8% 1,338

USDA 0.4% 75

What the homes were for

Primary residence 95.6% 19,969

Second home 0.8% 163

Investment property 3.6% 748

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

Borrower age

Under 25 7.2%

25–34 37.0%

35–44 23.9%

45–54 13.7%

55–64 10.7%

65–74 5.6%

75 and over 1.9%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 4.5%

20–29% 17.1%

30–35% 17.0%

36–42% 25.4%

43–49% 29.1%

50–60% 6.6%

Over 60% 0.2%

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

What borrowing cost in Cleveland

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	Cleveland	U.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional	6.625%	6.625%
30-year fixed rate · FHA	6.575%	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	+0.21 pts	+0.13 pts
Total loan costs · conventional	$4,990	$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA	$9,220	$11,310
Total loan costs · VA	$5,470	$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)	$1,910	$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points	53.0%	51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)	0.81%	0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits	32.9%	33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages	4.7%	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

Cleveland: 1,638 of 21,736 completed home-purchase applications were denied (7.5%).

Denial rate

Application	Cleveland	U.S.
Home purchase	7.5%	8.5%
Conventional	6.0%	7.1%
FHA	12.7%	12.5%
VA	9.7%	8.0%
USDA	14.3%	12.5%
Refinance	18.0%	17.9%
Cash-out refinance	34.8%	33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Debt-to-income ratio 35.6%

Collateral (appraisal/property) 19.3%

Credit history 16.5%

Credit application incomplete 8.4%

Other 8.4%

Unverifiable information 4.5%

Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 4.1%

Employment history 3.2%

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 Cleveland

Refinances

3,751

Median loan $235,000

Refi rate

6.375%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Refi loan costs

$4,050

Conventional

Cash-out refis

3,929

Median loan $175,000

Cash-out rate

6.875%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Cash-out income

$84,000

Median borrower

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