Metro area · Arkansas, Oklahoma

Fort Smith, AR-OK metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 3-county Fort Smith, AR-OK area (OMB code 22900), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 1,763 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Fort Smith, AR-OK metro area. The median buyer borrowed $205,000 on a home valued at $235,000 and reported a household income of $82,000.

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 $3,680.

Lenders denied 7.2% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans

1,763

3 counties

Buyer income

$82,000

U.S. $116,000

Loan amount

$205,000

U.S. $335,000

Down payment

3.5%

U.S. 10%

30-yr fixed rate

6.625%

U.S. 6.625%

Denial rate

7.2%

Purchase · U.S. 8.5%

Key facts

Home buyers' median income ($82,000) is 29% lower than the U.S. median ($116,000).
Median conventional loan costs ($3,680) were 34% lower than the U.S. median ($5,570).
FHA loans made up 31.5% of purchase mortgages, versus 21.1% nationally.
VA loans were unusually common: 15.7% of purchase mortgages.
USDA rural loans financed 6.9% of purchases.
25.2% 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 (33.5% of purchase loans).
52.8% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
The most-cited reason for denial was debt-to-income ratio (27.0% 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
Sebastian County, AR	983	$205,000	$83,000	6.625%	$3,550	$832,750	$541,287
Crawford County, AR	505	$225,000	$84,000	6.625%	$3,620	$832,750	$541,287
Sequoyah County, OK	275	$175,000	$73,000	6.625%	$4,290	$832,750	$541,287

Who bought homes in Fort Smith

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

Purchase loans

1,763

of 1,947 applications

Buyer income

$82,000

Middle half $58,000–$121,000

Home value

$235,000

Middle half $175,000–$325,000

Loan amount

$205,000

Middle half $155,000–$285,000

Down payment

3.5%

25.2% put 20%+ down

Single borrower

52.8%

No co-applicant

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

Loan type

Conventional 45.9% 810

FHA 31.5% 555

VA 15.7% 277

USDA 6.9% 121

What the homes were for

Primary residence 94.3% 1,900

Second home 1.6% 33

Investment property 4.0% 81

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

Borrower age

Under 25 10.5%

25–34 33.5%

35–44 22.1%

45–54 15.4%

55–64 10.5%

65–74 5.9%

75 and over 2.3%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 4.6%

20–29% 17.8%

30–35% 17.3%

36–42% 28.8%

43–49% 21.7%

50–60% 9.5%

Over 60% 0.4%

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

What borrowing cost in Fort Smith

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	Fort Smith	U.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional	6.625%	6.625%
30-year fixed rate · FHA	6.125%	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	$3,680	$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA	$7,220	$11,310
Total loan costs · VA	$4,100	$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)	$1,590	$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points	45.8%	51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)	0.68%	0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits	23.1%	33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages	4.7%	7.4%
Jumbo loans (above conforming limit)	0.6%	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

Fort Smith: 140 of 1,947 completed home-purchase applications were denied (7.2%).

Denial rate

Application	Fort Smith	U.S.
Home purchase	7.2%	8.5%
Conventional	7.3%	7.1%
FHA	7.3%	12.5%
VA	7.2%	8.0%
USDA	5.4%	12.5%
Refinance	17.6%	17.9%
Cash-out refinance	36.6%	33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Debt-to-income ratio 27.0%

Credit history 23.0%

Collateral (appraisal/property) 16.7%

Other 11.9%

Unverifiable information 7.1%

Credit application incomplete 6.3%

Employment history 4.8%

Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 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 Fort Smith

Refinances

451

Median loan $235,000

Refi rate

6.50%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Refi loan costs

$4,730

Conventional

Cash-out refis

426

Median loan $175,000

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