Metro area · South Carolina

Florence, SC metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 2-county Florence, SC area (OMB code 22500), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 1,473 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Florence, SC metro area. The median buyer borrowed $235,000 on a home valued at $255,000 and reported a household income of $83,000.

Buyers financed a median 96.5% of the home's value (roughly 3.5% down), paid a median 6.625% on 30-year fixed conventional loans and faced median conventional loan costs of $5,160.

Lenders denied 10.4% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans

1,473

2 counties

Buyer income

$83,000

U.S. $116,000

Loan amount

$235,000

U.S. $335,000

Down payment

3.5%

U.S. 10%

30-yr fixed rate

6.625%

U.S. 6.625%

Denial rate

10.4%

Purchase · U.S. 8.5%

Key facts

Home buyers' median income ($83,000) is 28% lower than the U.S. median ($116,000).
Median conventional loan costs ($5,160) were 7% lower than the U.S. median ($5,570).
FHA loans made up 37.7% of purchase mortgages, versus 21.1% nationally.
24.7% of buyers put at least 20% down (financed 80% or less), compared with 38.5% nationally.
16.1% of single-family purchase mortgages financed manufactured homes.
The most common age bracket among borrowers was 25–34 (27.8% of purchase loans).
66.4% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
The most-cited reason for denial was debt-to-income ratio (42.6% 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
Florence County, SC	1,072	$235,000	$83,000	6.625%	$5,230	$832,750	$541,287
Darlington County, SC	401	$215,000	$82,000	6.625%	$5,050	$832,750	$541,287

Who bought homes in Florence

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

Purchase loans

1,473

of 1,695 applications

Buyer income

$83,000

Middle half $59,000–$119,000

Home value

$255,000

Middle half $205,000–$345,000

Loan amount

$235,000

Middle half $175,000–$305,000

Down payment

3.5%

24.7% put 20%+ down

Single borrower

66.4%

No co-applicant

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

Loan type

Conventional 45.1% 665

FHA 37.7% 556

VA 14.6% 215

USDA 2.5% 37

What the homes were for

Primary residence 93.6% 1,758

Second home 1.3% 25

Investment property 5.1% 95

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

Borrower age

Under 25 9.2%

25–34 27.8%

35–44 22.5%

45–54 16.5%

55–64 12.6%

65–74 7.9%

75 and over 3.5%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 4.2%

20–29% 14.1%

30–35% 14.3%

36–42% 26.1%

43–49% 27.1%

50–60% 14.1%

Over 60% 0.1%

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

What borrowing cost in Florence

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	Florence	U.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional	6.625%	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%	5.875%
Rate spread vs. APOR · conventional	+0.25 pts	+0.13 pts
Total loan costs · conventional	$5,160	$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA	$9,490	$11,310
Total loan costs · VA	$5,070	$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)	$2,290	$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points	58.2%	51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)	0.92%	0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits	30.5%	33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages	2.6%	7.4%
Jumbo loans (above conforming limit)	0.5%	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

Florence: 176 of 1,695 completed home-purchase applications were denied (10.4%).

Denial rate

Application	Florence	U.S.
Home purchase	10.4%	8.5%
Conventional	7.7%	7.1%
FHA	14.2%	12.5%
VA	9.3%	8.0%
USDA	2.6%	12.5%
Refinance	20.4%	17.9%
Cash-out refinance	43.2%	33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Debt-to-income ratio 42.6%

Credit history 18.8%

Collateral (appraisal/property) 9.7%

Other 8.5%

Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 5.7%

Credit application incomplete 5.7%

Unverifiable information 5.1%

Employment history 4.0%

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 Florence

Refinances

272

Median loan $245,000

Refi rate

6.575%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Refi loan costs

$5,760

Conventional

Cash-out refis

300

Median loan $185,000

Cash-out rate

6.875%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Cash-out income

$75,000

Median borrower

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