Metro area · California

San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 2-county San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA area (OMB code 41884), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 7,039 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA metro area. The median buyer borrowed $1,005,000 on a home valued at $1,475,000 and reported a household income of $330,000.

Buyers financed a median 75% of the home's value (roughly 25% down), paid a median 6.50% on 30-year fixed conventional loans and faced median conventional loan costs of $7,810.

Lenders denied 6.5% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans

7,039

2 counties

Buyer income

$330,000

U.S. $116,000

Loan amount

$1,005,000

U.S. $335,000

Down payment

25%

U.S. 10%

30-yr fixed rate

6.50%

U.S. 6.625%

Denial rate

6.5%

Purchase · U.S. 8.5%

Key facts

Home buyers' median income ($330,000) is 184% higher than the U.S. median ($116,000).
The median 30-year fixed conventional rate here was 13 basis points below the U.S. median (6.625%).
Median conventional loan costs ($7,810) were 40% higher than the U.S. median ($5,570).
FHA loans made up 1.3% of purchase mortgages, versus 21.1% nationally.
86.2% of buyers put at least 20% down (financed 80% or less), compared with 38.5% nationally.
The most common age bracket among borrowers was 35–44 (39.2% of purchase loans).
38.1% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
The most-cited reason for denial was collateral (appraisal/property) (36.9% 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
San Mateo County, CA	3,597	$1,095,000	$356,000	6.500%	$7,990	$1,249,125	$1,249,125
San Francisco County, CA	3,442	$925,000	$304,000	6.500%	$7,680	$1,249,125	$1,249,125

Who bought homes in San Francisco

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

Purchase loans

7,039

of 7,692 applications

Buyer income

$330,000

Middle half $216,000–$491,000

Home value

$1,475,000

Middle half $1,055,000–$2,205,000

Loan amount

$1,005,000

Middle half $705,000–$1,455,000

Down payment

25%

86.2% put 20%+ down

Single borrower

38.1%

No co-applicant

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

Loan type

Conventional 97.8% 6,885

FHA 1.3% 95

VA 0.8% 59

What the homes were for

Primary residence 95.8% 7,072

Second home 1.9% 137

Investment property 2.3% 171

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

Borrower age

Under 25 1.2%

25–34 33.0%

35–44 39.2%

45–54 16.2%

55–64 7.3%

65–74 2.5%

75 and over 0.6%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 3.6%

20–29% 16.0%

30–35% 17.2%

36–42% 31.9%

43–49% 28.3%

50–60% 2.4%

Over 60% 0.5%

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

What borrowing cost in San Francisco

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	San Francisco	U.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional	6.500%	6.625%
30-year fixed rate · FHA	6.149%	6.250%
30-year fixed rate · VA	6.075%	6.125%
15-year fixed rate · conventional	5.750%	5.875%
Rate spread vs. APOR · conventional	−0.07 pts	+0.13 pts
Total loan costs · conventional	$7,810	$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA	$25,770	$11,310
Total loan costs · VA	$8,150	$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)	$1,640	$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points	25.8%	51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)	0.30%	0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits	52.0%	33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages	44.8%	7.4%
Jumbo loans (above conforming limit)	34.2%	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

San Francisco: 500 of 7,692 completed home-purchase applications were denied (6.5%).

Denial rate

Application	San Francisco	U.S.
Home purchase	6.5%	8.5%
Conventional	6.3%	7.1%
FHA	17.5%	12.5%
VA	13.2%	8.0%
USDA	—	12.5%
Refinance	10.7%	17.9%
Cash-out refinance	23.1%	33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Collateral (appraisal/property) 36.9%

Debt-to-income ratio 29.5%

Other 10.8%

Credit application incomplete 8.2%

Credit history 4.8%

Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 4.4%

Unverifiable information 4.2%

Employment history 1.0%

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 San Francisco

Refinances

3,164

Median loan $1,065,000

Refi rate

6.375%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Refi loan costs

$4,030

Conventional

Cash-out refis

877

Median loan $735,000

Cash-out rate

6.75%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Cash-out income

$228,000

Median borrower

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