Metro area · Hawaii

Urban Honolulu, HI metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 1-county Urban Honolulu, HI area (OMB code 46520), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 5,547 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Urban Honolulu, HI metro area. The median buyer borrowed $595,000 on a home valued at $735,000 and reported a household income of $158,000.

Buyers financed a median 84% of the home's value (roughly 16% down), paid a median 6.50% on 30-year fixed conventional loans and faced median conventional loan costs of $9,970.

Lenders denied 10.0% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans

5,547

1 county

Buyer income

$158,000

U.S. $116,000

Loan amount

$595,000

U.S. $335,000

Down payment

16%

U.S. 10%

30-yr fixed rate

6.50%

U.S. 6.625%

Denial rate

10.0%

Purchase · U.S. 8.5%

Key facts

Home buyers' median income ($158,000) is 36% 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 ($9,970) were 79% higher than the U.S. median ($5,570).
FHA loans made up 4.5% of purchase mortgages, versus 21.1% nationally.
VA loans were unusually common: 32.6% of purchase mortgages.
48.4% 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 (33.9% of purchase loans).
47.4% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
The most-cited reason for denial was debt-to-income ratio (37.4% 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
Honolulu County, HI	5,547	$595,000	$158,000	6.500%	$9,970	$1,249,125	$828,000

Who bought homes in Urban Honolulu

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

Purchase loans

5,547

of 6,313 applications

Buyer income

$158,000

Middle half $115,000–$224,000

Home value

$735,000

Middle half $535,000–$1,045,000

Loan amount

$595,000

Middle half $415,000–$855,000

Down payment

16%

48.4% put 20%+ down

Single borrower

47.4%

No co-applicant

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

Loan type

Conventional 62.5% 3,465

FHA 4.5% 251

VA 32.6% 1,811

USDA 0.4% 20

What the homes were for

Primary residence 93.3% 5,547

Second home 3.3% 195

Investment property 3.4% 203

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

Borrower age

Under 25 4.6%

25–34 33.9%

35–44 28.5%

45–54 16.5%

55–64 9.9%

65–74 5.0%

75 and over 1.5%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 1.7%

20–29% 8.1%

30–35% 10.7%

36–42% 23.9%

43–49% 37.6%

50–60% 14.6%

Over 60% 3.4%

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

What borrowing cost in Urban Honolulu

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	Urban Honolulu	U.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional	6.500%	6.625%
30-year fixed rate · FHA	5.990%	6.250%
30-year fixed rate · VA	5.990%	6.125%
15-year fixed rate · conventional	5.500%	5.875%
Rate spread vs. APOR · conventional	+0.02 pts	+0.13 pts
Total loan costs · conventional	$9,970	$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA	$17,370	$11,310
Total loan costs · VA	$13,330	$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)	$3,170	$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points	57.9%	51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)	0.97%	0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits	40.5%	33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages	12.9%	7.4%
Jumbo loans (above conforming limit)	6.5%	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

Urban Honolulu: 634 of 6,313 completed home-purchase applications were denied (10.0%).

Denial rate

Application	Urban Honolulu	U.S.
Home purchase	10.0%	8.5%
Conventional	10.5%	7.1%
FHA	22.6%	12.5%
VA	7.0%	8.0%
USDA	—	12.5%
Refinance	14.7%	17.9%
Cash-out refinance	37.9%	33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Debt-to-income ratio 37.4%

Collateral (appraisal/property) 28.7%

Other 8.7%

Credit history 7.3%

Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 6.2%

Unverifiable information 5.4%

Credit application incomplete 4.6%

Employment history 1.7%

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 Urban Honolulu

Refinances

1,093

Median loan $725,000

Refi rate

6.125%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Refi loan costs

$8,320

Conventional

Cash-out refis

549

Median loan $605,000

Cash-out rate

6.625%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Cash-out income

$148,000

Median borrower

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