Metro area · Alaska

Fairbanks-College, AK metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 1-county Fairbanks-College, AK area (OMB code 21820), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 1,021 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Fairbanks-College, AK metro area. The median buyer borrowed $335,000 on a home valued at $365,000 and reported a household income of $119,000.

Buyers financed a median 96.5% of the home's value (roughly 3.5% down), paid a median 6.50% on 30-year fixed conventional loans and faced median conventional loan costs of $4,720.

Lenders denied 4.4% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans

1,021

1 county

Buyer income

$119,000

U.S. $116,000

Loan amount

$335,000

U.S. $335,000

Down payment

3.5%

U.S. 10%

30-yr fixed rate

6.50%

U.S. 6.625%

Denial rate

4.4%

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 ($4,720) were 15% lower than the U.S. median ($5,570).
VA loans were unusually common: 41.2% of purchase mortgages.
17.7% 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 (39.9% of purchase loans).
55.8% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
The most-cited reason for denial was collateral (appraisal/property) (20.0% 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
Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK	1,021	$335,000	$119,000	6.500%	$4,720	$1,249,125	$541,287

Who bought homes in Fairbanks

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

Purchase loans

1,021

of 1,092 applications

Buyer income

$119,000

Middle half $90,000–$159,000

Home value

$365,000

Middle half $295,000–$425,000

Loan amount

$335,000

Middle half $255,000–$405,000

Down payment

3.5%

17.7% put 20%+ down

Single borrower

55.8%

No co-applicant

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

Loan type

Conventional 41.9% 428

FHA 16.7% 170

VA 41.2% 421

USDA 0.2% 2

What the homes were for

Primary residence 96.1% 1,026

Second home 0.9% 10

Investment property 3.0% 32

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

Borrower age

Under 25 8.2%

25–34 39.9%

35–44 29.0%

45–54 12.8%

55–64 6.9%

65–74 2.7%

75 and over 0.5%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 4.0%

20–29% 12.4%

30–35% 15.6%

36–42% 25.1%

43–49% 29.1%

50–60% 13.2%

Over 60% 0.7%

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

What borrowing cost in Fairbanks

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	Fairbanks	U.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional	6.500%	6.625%
30-year fixed rate · FHA	6.250%	6.250%
30-year fixed rate · VA	6.250%	6.125%
15-year fixed rate · conventional	—	5.875%
Rate spread vs. APOR · conventional	+0.14 pts	+0.13 pts
Total loan costs · conventional	$4,720	$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA	$9,970	$11,310
Total loan costs · VA	$9,400	$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)	$1,770	$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points	63.8%	51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)	0.63%	0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits	31.8%	33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages	1.1%	7.4%
Jumbo loans (above conforming limit)	0.0%	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

Fairbanks: 48 of 1,092 completed home-purchase applications were denied (4.4%).

Denial rate

Application	Fairbanks	U.S.
Home purchase	4.4%	8.5%
Conventional	3.9%	7.1%
FHA	3.3%	12.5%
VA	5.3%	8.0%
USDA	—	12.5%
Refinance	24.3%	17.9%
Cash-out refinance	38.9%	33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Collateral (appraisal/property) 20.0%

Credit application incomplete 17.8%

Other 17.8%

Debt-to-income ratio 15.6%

Credit history 11.1%

Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 11.1%

Unverifiable information 6.7%

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 Fairbanks

Refinances

149

Median loan $335,000

Refi rate

—

30-yr fixed, conv.

Refi loan costs

—

Conventional

Cash-out refis

113

Median loan $245,000

Cash-out rate

6.875%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Cash-out income

$107,000

Median borrower

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