Mortgage Denials in South Florida: What Changed Between 2024 and 2025
Umbralio · Official HMDA data (CFPB), measured on November 4, 2026 · Published November 9, 2026
In 2025, one in five mortgage applications to buy a home in Miami-Dade ended in a denial. The rate edged down from 2024 in all four South Florida counties, but the bigger change is not how much gets denied — it is why: in 2024 the top reason in Miami-Dade and Broward was collateral — the property’s value and appraisal — while in 2025 the top reason in all four counties is the borrower’s debt relative to income (DTI).
The numbers, with their universe
Home purchases with a mortgage: owner-occupied, first lien, 1-to-4-unit homes. “Decided” = applications that reached a decision (originated, approved but not accepted, or denied).
| County | Denied 2025 | 2025 rate | 2024 rate | Decided 2025 (n) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | 3,453 | 20.1% | 20.5% | 17,221 |
| Broward | 3,142 | 18.1% | 19.4% | 17,323 |
| Palm Beach | 2,008 | 13.6% | 14.9% | 14,801 |
| Monroe | 99 | 15.9% | 17.3% | 623 |
The rate fell by 0.4 to 1.4 points depending on the county. In Miami-Dade and Broward it fell alongside fewer decided applications than in 2024 (11% fewer in each): there were not more approvals in raw numbers — there were fewer decisions.
The top reason: collateral first, then debt
Of all denials, the first reason the lender reported:
- Miami-Dade: collateral 34.0% in 2024 → debt (DTI) 35.0% in 2025.
- Broward: collateral 34.4% in 2024 → debt (DTI) 37.7% in 2025.
- Palm Beach: debt (DTI) both years: 39.2% → 40.4%.
- Monroe: debt (DTI) both years: 47.1% → 34.3% (small sample: 99 denials in 2025; read it as a signal, not a headline).
Credit history — the reason most often named in everyday conversation — was the primary reason in only 8.4% of Miami-Dade denials in 2025 (6.4% in 2024): below both debt and collateral in the large counties.
That collateral weighed so heavily in 2024 is a fact; why — appraisals coming in low, condos that are hard to finance — is a hypothesis these data alone do not prove, and we say so.
What did move: FHA
Among loans that did close, the FHA share rose in all four counties: Miami-Dade 24.0% → 27.3%, Broward 21.5% → 23.2%, Palm Beach 17.9% → 19.1%, and Monroe 10.7% → 17.7%. The median closed loan in 2025 was $505,000 in Miami-Dade, $435,000 in Broward and Palm Beach, and $605,000 in Monroe.
Methodology and limits
- Source: HMDA data published by the CFPB (ffiec.cfpb.gov), annual county files for 2024 and 2025, downloaded on November 4, 2026. A second person repeated the calculation independently on November 8, with the same result.
- Universe: purchase applications (loan_purposes=1), owner-occupied, first lien, 1-to-4 units, no business purpose, no reverse mortgages or open-end credit lines. Investment purchases and second homes fall outside this universe.
- HMDA does not include cash purchases: everything above describes only the market that applied for a mortgage.
- Reasons are the ones lenders report, and an application can carry up to four: the reason figures use the first one reported. The ethnic breakdown exists in the source data and is not presented in this study: these data, on their own, do not support a claim of discrimination.
The full data, to download
The full county-by-year table (decided, denied, reasons, loan types, and medians), as CSV. Free to use and cite (CC BY 4.0), crediting Umbralio.
To repeat it
The CFPB API query, for Miami-Dade 2025 (change the year and the county code: Broward 12011, Palm Beach 12099, Monroe 12087). The API answers with a redirect: follow it.
https://ffiec.cfpb.gov/v2/data-browser-api/view/csv?years=2025&counties=12086&loan_purposes=1
The calculation script (Python), which applies the universe above
For journalists
Nelson Paredes, agent at One Stop Realty Center Inc and creator of Umbralio, works with the press by email: write with whatever you need and he will set up an interview or anything else, in English or Spanish.
nelson@umbralio.com
Umbralio checks the down payment assistance programs in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach against their official sources every week and publishes their verified status in the Assistance Tracker.
Nelson Paredes · REALTOR® · One Stop Realty Center Inc · FL Lic. SL3654769
