Mortgage by CountyWhat home buyers actually paid, county by county

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

Metro area · South Dakota

Rapid City, SD metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 3-county Rapid City, SD area (OMB code 39660), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 1,683 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Rapid City, SD metro area. The median buyer borrowed $335,000 on a home valued at $365,000 and reported a household income of $106,000.

Buyers financed a median 95% of the home's value (roughly 5% down), paid a median 6.50% on 30-year fixed conventional loans and faced median conventional loan costs of $5,660.

Lenders denied 5.0% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans
1,683
3 counties
Buyer income
$106,000
U.S. $116,000
Loan amount
$335,000
U.S. $335,000
Down payment
5%
U.S. 10%
30-yr fixed rate
6.50%
U.S. 6.625%
Denial rate
5.0%
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%).
  • VA loans were unusually common: 28.1% of purchase mortgages.
  • 31.1% 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 (31.8% of purchase loans).
  • 44.8% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
  • The most-cited reason for denial was debt-to-income ratio (35.2% of denials with a stated reason).

Counties in the metro area

CountyPurchase loansMedian loanBuyer income30-yr rateLoan costsConforming limitFHA limit
Pennington County, SD1,311$325,000$102,0006.500%$5,580$832,750$541,287
Meade County, SD301$365,000$118,0006.625%$5,790$832,750$541,287
Custer County, SD71$355,000$110,0006.625%$5,760$832,750$541,287

Who bought homes in Rapid City

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

Purchase loans
1,683
of 1,826 applications
Buyer income
$106,000
Middle half $77,000–$149,000
Home value
$365,000
Middle half $305,000–$475,000
Loan amount
$335,000
Middle half $265,000–$415,000
Down payment
5%
31.1% put 20%+ down
Single borrower
44.8%
No co-applicant

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

Loan type

Conventional 48.4% 814
FHA 22.3% 375
VA 28.1% 473
USDA 1.2% 21

What the homes were for

Primary residence 94.5% 1,797
Second home 2.8% 53
Investment property 2.7% 51

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

Borrower age

Under 25 10.3%
25–34 31.8%
35–44 25.5%
45–54 15.8%
55–64 9.7%
65–74 5.0%
75 and over 1.8%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 2.7%
20–29% 10.1%
30–35% 13.5%
36–42% 24.1%
43–49% 36.0%
50–60% 11.7%
Over 60% 1.7%

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

What borrowing cost in Rapid City

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.

MeasureRapid CityU.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional6.500%6.625%
30-year fixed rate · FHA6.000%6.250%
30-year fixed rate · VA6.000%6.125%
15-year fixed rate · conventional—5.875%
Rate spread vs. APOR · conventional+0.11 pts+0.13 pts
Total loan costs · conventional$5,660$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA$10,790$11,310
Total loan costs · VA$8,240$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)$2,970$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points58.3%51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)0.94%0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits31.7%33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages5.8%7.4%
Jumbo loans (above conforming limit)2.0%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

Rapid City: 91 of 1,826 completed home-purchase applications were denied (5.0%).

Denial rate

ApplicationRapid CityU.S.
Home purchase5.0%8.5%
Conventional4.1%7.1%
FHA6.1%12.5%
VA5.5%8.0%
USDA—12.5%
Refinance12.4%17.9%
Cash-out refinance27.3%33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Debt-to-income ratio 35.2%
Credit history 17.6%
Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 11.0%
Credit application incomplete 9.9%
Other 8.8%
Collateral (appraisal/property) 7.7%
Unverifiable information 6.6%
Employment history 3.3%

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 Rapid City

Refinances
403
Median loan $355,000
Refi rate
6.375%
30-yr fixed, conv.
Refi loan costs
$5,390
Conventional
Cash-out refis
328
Median loan $275,000
Cash-out rate
6.50%
30-yr fixed, conv.
Cash-out income
$93,000
Median borrower

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