Mortgage by CountyWhat home buyers actually paid, county by county

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

Metro area · Georgia

Dalton, GA metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 2-county Dalton, GA area (OMB code 19140), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 951 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Dalton, GA metro area. The median buyer borrowed $255,000 on a home valued at $285,000 and reported a household income of $82,000.

Buyers financed a median 96.4% of the home's value (roughly 3.6% down), paid a median 6.625% on 30-year fixed conventional loans and faced median conventional loan costs of $5,470.

Lenders denied 10.2% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans
951
2 counties
Buyer income
$82,000
U.S. $116,000
Loan amount
$255,000
U.S. $335,000
Down payment
3.6%
U.S. 10%
30-yr fixed rate
6.625%
U.S. 6.625%
Denial rate
10.2%
Purchase · U.S. 8.5%

Key facts

  • Home buyers' median income ($82,000) is 29% lower than the U.S. median ($116,000).
  • FHA loans made up 40.2% of purchase mortgages, versus 21.1% nationally.
  • 25.8% of buyers put at least 20% down (financed 80% or less), compared with 38.5% nationally.
  • 12.6% of single-family purchase mortgages financed manufactured homes.
  • The most common age bracket among borrowers was 25–34 (37.7% of purchase loans).
  • 55.0% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
  • The most-cited reason for denial was debt-to-income ratio (37.8% of denials with a stated reason).

Counties in the metro area

CountyPurchase loansMedian loanBuyer income30-yr rateLoan costsConforming limitFHA limit
Whitfield County, GA695$255,000$82,0006.625%$5,550$832,750$541,287
Murray County, GA256$255,000$83,0006.500%$5,450$832,750$541,287

Who bought homes in Dalton

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

Purchase loans
951
of 1,091 applications
Buyer income
$82,000
Middle half $63,000–$114,000
Home value
$285,000
Middle half $235,000–$345,000
Loan amount
$255,000
Middle half $205,000–$315,000
Down payment
3.6%
25.8% put 20%+ down
Single borrower
55.0%
No co-applicant

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

Loan type

Conventional 48.5% 461
FHA 40.2% 382
VA 8.6% 82
USDA 2.7% 26

What the homes were for

Primary residence 94.1% 1,093
Second home 1.0% 12
Investment property 4.8% 56

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

Borrower age

Under 25 12.2%
25–34 37.7%
35–44 19.3%
45–54 15.2%
55–64 9.8%
65–74 5.0%
75 and over 0.6%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 2.0%
20–29% 10.5%
30–35% 15.4%
36–42% 25.8%
43–49% 31.3%
50–60% 14.7%
Over 60% 0.3%

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

What borrowing cost in Dalton

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.

MeasureDaltonU.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional6.625%6.625%
30-year fixed rate · FHA6.250%6.250%
30-year fixed rate · VA6.250%6.125%
15-year fixed rate · conventional—5.875%
Rate spread vs. APOR · conventional+0.24 pts+0.13 pts
Total loan costs · conventional$5,470$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA$10,370$11,310
Total loan costs · VA$4,910$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)$2,550$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points56.8%51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)0.87%0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits28.8%33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages3.7%7.4%
Jumbo loans (above conforming limit)0.3%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

Dalton: 111 of 1,091 completed home-purchase applications were denied (10.2%).

Denial rate

ApplicationDaltonU.S.
Home purchase10.2%8.5%
Conventional8.5%7.1%
FHA11.8%12.5%
VA10.4%8.0%
USDA13.3%12.5%
Refinance20.5%17.9%
Cash-out refinance29.9%33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Debt-to-income ratio 37.8%
Credit history 20.7%
Collateral (appraisal/property) 9.9%
Unverifiable information 8.1%
Other 7.2%
Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 6.3%
Employment history 5.4%
Credit application incomplete 4.5%

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 Dalton

Refinances
204
Median loan $255,000
Refi rate
6.625%
30-yr fixed, conv.
Refi loan costs
$6,010
Conventional
Cash-out refis
244
Median loan $205,000
Cash-out rate
6.875%
30-yr fixed, conv.
Cash-out income
$74,000
Median borrower

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