Metro area · New Jersey

Lakewood-New Brunswick, NJ metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 4-county Lakewood-New Brunswick, NJ area (OMB code 29484), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 18,722 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Lakewood-New Brunswick, NJ metro area. The median buyer borrowed $465,000 on a home valued at $605,000 and reported a household income of $158,000.

Buyers financed a median 80% of the home's value (roughly 20% down), paid a median 6.625% on 30-year fixed conventional loans and faced median conventional loan costs of $6,610.

Lenders denied 7.8% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans

18,722

4 counties

Buyer income

$158,000

U.S. $116,000

Loan amount

$465,000

U.S. $335,000

Down payment

20%

U.S. 10%

30-yr fixed rate

6.625%

U.S. 6.625%

Denial rate

7.8%

Purchase · U.S. 8.5%

Key facts

Home buyers' median income ($158,000) is 36% higher than the U.S. median ($116,000).
Median conventional loan costs ($6,610) were 19% higher than the U.S. median ($5,570).
FHA loans made up 10.1% of purchase mortgages, versus 21.1% nationally.
60.5% 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 (34.7% of purchase loans).
47.8% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
The most-cited reason for denial was debt-to-income ratio (39.7% 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
Ocean County, NJ	5,408	$395,000	$130,000	6.625%	$6,230	$1,209,750	$1,249,125
Middlesex County, NJ	5,197	$475,000	$156,000	6.625%	$6,660	$1,209,750	$1,249,125
Monmouth County, NJ	5,393	$535,000	$187,000	6.625%	$6,870	$1,209,750	$1,249,125
Somerset County, NJ	2,724	$495,000	$177,000	6.625%	$6,810	$1,209,750	$1,249,125

Who bought homes in Lakewood

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

Purchase loans

18,722

of 20,938 applications

Buyer income

$158,000

Middle half $111,000–$233,000

Home value

$605,000

Middle half $455,000–$805,000

Loan amount

$465,000

Middle half $345,000–$615,000

Down payment

20%

60.5% put 20%+ down

Single borrower

47.8%

No co-applicant

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

Loan type

Conventional 86.4% 16,179

FHA 10.1% 1,898

VA 3.4% 634

USDA 0.1% 11

What the homes were for

Primary residence 91.9% 18,849

Second home 5.1% 1,044

Investment property 3.0% 619

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

Borrower age

Under 25 2.7%

25–34 34.7%

35–44 28.5%

45–54 15.2%

55–64 11.5%

65–74 5.9%

75 and over 1.6%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 3.1%

20–29% 13.2%

30–35% 15.3%

36–42% 25.9%

43–49% 36.5%

50–60% 5.7%

Over 60% 0.3%

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

What borrowing cost in Lakewood

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	Lakewood	U.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional	6.625%	6.625%
30-year fixed rate · FHA	6.375%	6.250%
30-year fixed rate · VA	6.249%	6.125%
15-year fixed rate · conventional	5.750%	5.875%
Rate spread vs. APOR · conventional	+0.11 pts	+0.13 pts
Total loan costs · conventional	$6,610	$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA	$16,470	$11,310
Total loan costs · VA	$8,530	$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)	$1,790	$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points	37.9%	51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)	0.68%	0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits	40.8%	33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages	8.6%	7.4%
Jumbo loans (above conforming limit)	2.5%	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

Lakewood: 1,636 of 20,938 completed home-purchase applications were denied (7.8%).

Denial rate

Application	Lakewood	U.S.
Home purchase	7.8%	8.5%
Conventional	7.1%	7.1%
FHA	13.4%	12.5%
VA	7.2%	8.0%
USDA	—	12.5%
Refinance	14.3%	17.9%
Cash-out refinance	28.2%	33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Debt-to-income ratio 39.7%

Collateral (appraisal/property) 17.5%

Credit application incomplete 9.3%

Other 8.4%

Credit history 8.2%

Unverifiable information 7.7%

Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 6.9%

Employment history 2.3%

Mortgage insurance denied 0.1%

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 Lakewood

Refinances

4,743

Median loan $475,000

Refi rate

6.25%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Refi loan costs

$4,860

Conventional

Cash-out refis

4,437

Median loan $365,000

Cash-out rate

6.875%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Cash-out income

$130,000

Median borrower

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